Community News
Chalk Talk
page 8
Community Events, page 2 - 3
The Community Paper of Record
Vol. 56, No. 08
Serving the San Gabriel Valley Since 1966
April 17, 2019
Rio Hondo College Alumna Dedicates Career to Education by Staff Writer San Gabriel Valley
Angelica De La Rosa recalls how her struggles with education – a lack of motivation and the poor grades that resulted – changed overnight with the birth of her first son. “The motivation wasn’t there, the goals weren’t set,” she said. “I come from a family of seven and going through school, it was difficult for me to do the things I wanted to do. I wanted something better for my children and I knew it was going to be up to me to make that possible. I decided education was going to be my path.” De La Rosa, who had enrolled in Rio Hondo College after high school only to be declared academically ineligible due to poor grades, returned with a plan. Working part time and caring for her son, she jumped into a full
schedule of classes. She retook the courses she had failed and did so well she was able to transfer to California State University, Los Angeles. At Cal State L.A., she blazed a path through the curriculum, studying with a full schedule straight through summers to get her Bachelor of Arts in child development and multi-subject teaching credential in eight quarters. She graduated on Dec. 12, 1998 and was working as a substitute teacher when Whittier City School District started its spring semester on Jan. 5, 1999. “I was the first in my family to get a degree and I was the youngest,” De La Rosa said. “My family was so proud.” De La Rosa soon found a full-time post at the district, teaching English and history for six years and then math. She shifted to high school instruction, taking another round of college classes to obtain a single-
Education continued on page 16
Courtesy Photo
The Gift of Life is Our Most Precious Gift by Dawn Marsh, Rio Vista Elementary School El Monte
Not often enough do we hear stories of heroic deeds, so when someone comes along and restores our faith in humanity, it is important to share the good news with the world. This story is about two colleagues and friends, Shirley Chan and Alexandria “Alex” Fabbro. Shirley and Alex are special education teachers at Rio Vista Elementary School in El Monte, California. Shirley has been teaching children with special needs for the last 10 years and Alex has been on a journey as a general education teacher, a high school math teacher and now has found her calling as a teacher for children with special needs, namely autism. Alex has been teaching at Rio Vista for the past three years. As you will see, these two friends share more than their passion for helping students with special needs. When Shirley was 15 years old, she was diagnosed with Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. Inflammation caused by lupus can affect many different body systems — including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.
Courtesy Photo
Unfortunately, Shirley’s Lupus has compromised her kidneys to the point where she is now undergoing lifesaving daily dialysis. It has severely impacted her quality of life. A machine filters wastes, salts and
fluid from her blood because Shirley’s kidneys are no longer healthy enough to do this work effectively. A kidney transplant is the only way for Shirley to be able to live independently without being tethered
to her dialysis equipment. In September 2018 another colleague and friend of Shirley’s, Betty Silva, sent out a letter to the staff at Gift of Life continued on page 16
