wellington | schools
“I have future doctors, future presidents in my school. People might get bogged down with what’s going on in society, but education is the most important career — building strong, capable, young humans who are socially and emotionally ready to take on the world.” — Edilia De La Vega Principal Edilia De La Vega in front of a panther mural at Panther Run.
EDUCATING OUR FUTURE LEADERS Panther Run Elementary School Principal Edilia De La Vega Keeps Her Focus On The Hundreds Of Students In Her Care STORY BY DEBORAH WELKY | PHOTOS BY DENISE FLEISCHMAN
Panther Run Elementary School has been serving students in the Wellington area for more than 30 years. The school opened in 1991 on Lake Worth Road as the primary school serving the southern areas of the quickly growing community. Since 2017, the principal has been Edilia De La Vega. She uses her own struggles during her elementary years as motivation for the work she does to
help the hundreds of Wellington students in her care. “My parents migrated to Miami from Cuba and worked blue collar jobs here in the United States,” De La Vega recalled. “They enrolled me, their only child, in a private school run by immigrants, so I was taught in Spanish. When they moved into a more Anglo area, I entered third grade in a public school. I spoke no English and looked
like I came from the Mariel Boatlift. I struggled until the fifth grade, when a teacher named Ms. Green mentored me so much that I was able to catch up. Education was very important in my family, and I graduated high school in the top 10 percent of my class.” De La Vega remembers always wanting to be a teacher. She would spend hours teaching classes with her Barbie dolls sitting in for students. wellington the magazine | february 2022
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