Cumbres grad overcomes hurdles, shines as teacher

Chris Casey, (Bio) ccasey@greeleytrib.com
April 23, 2008

Comments Print Email

Teacher: "How do you compare yourself with other members of your family?"

Fabian: Cheesy grin. "I'm the best looking." Groans around the class.

Teacher: "How so?"

Fabian: "Because I just am."

So goes another light moment in Nancy Wendirad's Spanish II class at Valley High School in Gilcrest. Besides hearing her students reel off a string of Spanish, laughter is music to Wendirad. She lets a student start each period with the (clean) joke of his or her choice.

"I don't think we do enough of it," she says about laughing. "Often I come up with cheesy jokes at my own expense, just to get them to laugh."

Wendirad has taught at Valley for two years, after a year at Highland High School in Ault.

Cumbres 10th Anniversary Fiesta

Cumbres, Spanish for peaks, celebrates its 10th anniversary with a scholarship dinner Thursday at the Denver Merchandise Mart. The dinner will recognize 29 recent graduates of the program, which started at the University of Northern Colorado in 1997. Sen. Paula Sandoval of Denver and Luis Canela, sports director and anchor for Univision Colorado, are special guests.

At 44, she's still somewhat new to teaching. Although she earned two associate degrees by her early 20s, Wendirad married young, started a family and took a job to pay the bills. The bachelor's degree would have to wait.

In Wendirad's case, it waited about 18 years. But it's made all the difference. So did the scholarships and mentoring that supplemented her three-year, sleep-deprived journey to a degree. She worked full time while taking 18-credit loads at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.

"It nearly killed me, but I did it," she says.

Wendirad's smarts and fortitude won her "Outstanding Student of 2005" in Cumbres (Spanish for peaks), a UNC program that provided one of her scholarships.

More than 180 students have gone through Cumbres since the late 1990s, when former director Ernie Andrade and other UNC alumni launched an effort to combat chronic low-performance by Latino students in middle and high schools. Cumbres also addresses the shortage of bilingual specialists by turning out teachers with endorsements in bilingual-ed and English as a Second Language.

Having a wealth of life experience and perspective, Wendirad is among the shining stars of Cumbres, which this week celebrates its 10th year.

"She's never had an easy life, and that's probably what has caused her to be so organized and so focused on getting to her goals," said Linda Carbajal, Cumbres director. "More than anything, she has a real heart for the students she teaches. I have nothing but the highest respect and regard for Nancy."

Back to school

Growing up in Chihuahua, Mexico, Wendirad had all the makings of being a teacher. When her uncle suggested as much, she did what a typical teenager does -- the opposite. She earned an associate's degree in accounting but ultimately discovered it wasn't her bag.

Teaching was, which she realized after working as the attendance liaison for Greeley-Evans School District 6 for 11 years. She tracked school attendance, handled discipline and testified in truancy court.

"I thought I needed to do something more positive, so I went back to school and got my teaching degree," Wendirad said.

In the classroom, she is in her element.

There was a time, however, when most things were foreign. Wendirad (then Sanchez) came to Colorado at age 17 in 1981, following her mother, who found work at a dry cleaner in Loveland. An overachiever, Wendirad came to the U.S. with her associate's degree (she graduated high school at age 15) and enrolled at Aims while earning tuition money as a cook at the Armadillo in La Salle.

During work shifts, she practiced the language of her new country. She ignored the occasional ribbings, choosing to laugh along with anyone who made fun of her broken English.

"I'm very proud of my language and very proud of my heritage, but personally and professionally I believe here in the United States Spanish is essential," Wendirad says. "On the other hand, I firmly believe if a person immigrates to whatever the country is, they should learn the language of that country. That's why I learned English."

She said students frequently ask her why she chose to teach. To their surprise, she turns it around and puts herself in their place.

"I say, 'Because I love to learn.' I truly believe I learn so much from my students."

And she empathizes with their frustration at learning a new language. Though a high percentage of students at Valley are Latino, Spanish is still a new language to many.

Don't think for a moment you won't use Spanish in the future, she tells them. Besides teaching, she infuses in students the importance of community service. She is faculty sponsor of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), and the group is one of the Valley's most active in staging food drives, homeless shelter projects and school dances.

'Want to make a difference'

It was Wendirad's mother who -- though growing up in an era when women, especially in Latino countries, didn't go to college -- instilled the importance of education.

So Wendirad is still on the education track, now studying for a master's degree and planning to get a doctorate. She's not sure which direction she'll go with a doctorate, either college administration or working in the communications field helping people from disparate cultures understand each other. She's leaning toward the latter because hands-on cultural work is what she enjoys most.

If she could do anything, Wendirad says, she'd be a missionary traveling the world. But there is the matter of earning enough to pay the bills to keep a roof overhead.

Whatever route she chooses, she'll keep her affinity for laughter and appetite for learning to guide her up the next cumbre, the next peak.

"The more I know, the more I realize how little I know," Wendirad says. "I know what I'm passionate about. I know what I like. I know I want to make a difference and want to help people."

Chris Casey is a reporter at The Tribune. He covers immigration, diversity and higher education. His column runs on Wednesdays. To reach him, e-mail ccasey@greeleytribune.com or call (970) 392-5623.