The People and Places of Northwest Washington
October 10, 2012 ■ Page 15
Rosario founder celebrates 40 years of adult education
By DEIRDRE BANNON Current Staff Writer
When Sonia Gutierrez moved from Puerto Rico to D.C. as a young wife and mother in the early 1970s, she never expected to become an advocate for the District’s immigrant communities — never mind start a groundbreaking and award-winning adult education school. But that’s exactly what happened after an old friend introduced Gutierrez to Carlos Rosario, a fellow Puerto Rican and a D.C. government official. The chance encounter with Rosario, who had just started a small English-language program for District immigrants, would radically alter the course of Gutierrez’s life, as well as that of tens of thousands of immigrants. This year, the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, which Gutierrez founded, is celebrating her 40 years of service to the community. A September gala drew dignitaries including Mayor Vincent Gray. “It’s a love story, really,” Gutierrez said, reflecting on her four decades of work with students. When she first met Rosario, he was looking for well-educated Latinos to help teach about 100 Spanish-speaking students in his program. Gutierrez was reluctant — she had a business degree but no experience teaching or working as a counselor. But Rosario’s passion persuaded her, so she started volun-
teering a few nights a week. “And you know what happened? I fell in love with them. I started listening to their stories and I thought, ‘What a plastic world I have lived in,’” she said, referring to her own upper-middle-class upbringing. “They struggle and they work so hard — I have so much respect for them,” Gutierrez added. “To this day, 40 years later, I’m still in love with them.” The Carlos Rosario School, the first charter school for adult education in the country, provides English as a Second Language instruction, family literacy classes and test prep for GED and U.S. citizenship exams. There are also career training courses in technology, nursing and culinary arts. Located at 1100 Harvard St. NW, the school today enrolls about 2,500 students who hail from 78
Courtesy of the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School
A gala last month honored Sonia Gutierrez, above fifth from left, for founding the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, which teaches adults.
countries and speak more than 35 different languages — and it consistently has a waiting list of more than a thousand students. It has won a number of national and international awards and has served as a model for schools internationally.
And that success is leading to an expansion. The school is opening a new location next year in Northeast near Rhode Island Avenue, which the school board has decided to name the Sonia Gutierrez Campus. The new facility’s state-of-the-art
kitchen facilities will allow an expansion of the successful culinary arts training program, which will continue its partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. Gerardo Hernandez, an alumnus of the school’s ESL program, said the program and Gutierrez’s leadership changed his life. “When I met Sonia for the first time, I thought, ‘Who is this person? She’s incredible.’ Her fire and passion take your breath away,” See Gutierrez/Page 19
Cycling for a cause: GU hospital leader marks seventh ride for lymphoma By BETH COPE Current Staff Writer
Late last month, more than 300 people gathered in Maryland to take a ride. In the process, they raised over $500,000 for lymphoma research, adding to a multimillion-dollar effort launched seven years ago by Dr. Bruce Cheson, director of hematology at Georgetown University Hospital. There are more than 60 types of lymphomas — a form of blood cancer — and about a hundred thousand people will be diagnosed with one of them this year, according to the American Cancer Society. Georgetown is one of a number of medical facilities researching treatments and cures for the diseases, but Cheson, who has been at the hospital for about a decade, said funding is dwindling. “So … you have to do smaller trials,” he said. “As a consequence, the process toward curing these diseases will slow down.” Unless fundraisers step in, that is.
Courtesy of the Lymphoma Research Ride
Dr. Bruce Cheson, right, with ABC7’s Scott Thuman, left, and the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Diane Blum.
Cheson has been studying blood and blood diseases for his entire career. But a few years
ago, his wife suggested taking the work beyond the hospital. “I’ve been a cyclist for many years, and about seven years ago, my wife said to me, ‘Is there something we can do — as a family? Some sort of cause we can focus on?’” Thus was born the Lymphoma Research Ride, which Cheson said is known simply as “the ride,” since it’s the only major event of its kind in the area. Participants are asked to raise $1,000 — or form a group to raise the sum — and to bike 25 or 50 miles in a noncompetitive event that supports the Lymphoma Research Foundation. Cheson said the organization funds research that’s making major strides in combating blood cancer, particularly in terms of finding treatments other than chemotherapy. “It’s an exciting time because of these new approaches,” he said, explaining that new drugs like Rituximab are “replacing the chemotherapy that some patients can’t tolerate,
that no one wants and some don’t need.” “The hope is that as we learn more about the biology of these diseases and as we discover more effective targeted therapies, we might be able to get rid of chemotherapy altogether,” he said. The reason for that goal is evident: The side effects of chemo can cause hair loss, nausea, vomiting, rashes and more. The new approaches can kill just the cancer cells — a more targeted approach than chemotherapy, which is nonspecific, said Cheson. Though undergoing treatment can be extremely arduous, Cheson said some patients are inspired to participate in the annual ride. “We have people who have never cycled before go out and buy bicycles just to take part,” he said. “We have patients who are in chemo … who are in this event. … It’s a wonderful event because there’s a sense of enthusiasm and encouragement.” To learn more, donate or sign up for next year’s ride, visit lymphoma.org.