Topic by Category: Thelma Reyna

Thelma Reyna, Ph.D., does a piece on a woman who has found her passion in improving education, first for her own child and now for all children in the Los Angeles schools. What can we learn from this woman’s work and her passion?
MATILDA VERA: “PARENT OF THE YEAR” WITH A PASSION FOR CHANGE
Starting when she [...]

Thanks to commercialized media, the word “passion” has sometimes taken on narrow definitions with connotations that are not always appropriate in polite company, or—thanks to Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of Christ”—evoke intense religious emotions.
One of my favorite meanings of the word is “boundless enthusiasm,” the third most frequently used sense of the term, according [...]

As parents and educators, we have for decades examined and debated countless ideas regarding how best to raise our children, at home and in the schoolroom. University research, popular books, spiritual guides, and thousands of other sources have tried to persuade us that one particular strategy or another is best, that children will flourish if [...]

Socrates, the great ancient Greek philosopher, was charged at the age of 70 with corrupting the minds of youth with his public debating and questioning of society’s beliefs and practices. He had devoted his life to educating young people and challenging deeply held social and political beliefs of others as he sought truth and wisdom [...]

The first anciana who played a major role in my life was my mother’s mother, Maria Treviño Guerra, who was at once typical and atypical for her generation.
Her grandfather was Lyman Phillips, an Irish-American veteran of the Mexican/American War, who fell in love with a Mexican señorita, married her, and took her to Texas, where [...]

Personal power, done right, is intertwined with personal happiness…done right. In other words, if power is benevolent, and if happiness is sought with the right frame of mind, the two will join hands and march forward together, making for a powerfully happy life, or a happily powerful one.
It’s simplistic. But the older I get, the [...]

She’s my kid sister, a generation younger, seven years that made our paths hardly cross as we grew in a chaotic family of eleven, counting mom and dad.
While I struggled with high school angst, she learned pencils and crayons and hopscotch.
My circle of friends was never a Venn diagram with hers, two orbs floating in [...]