On Wednesday January 27th we had the pleasure of hearing from one of our newest Rotarians Juanita Picazo. Juanita was born in South West Texas and at the age of 13 her parents decided to leave Texas and head for Minnesota. Juanita recalls fondly her early years living in Texas and spending her weekends in Mexico with her Grandparents. She feels she had the best of both worlds. School during the week learning English and weekends with her grandparents learning to read, write and speak Spanish.
Juanita proudly described life in her migrant family as they travelled to Michigan to work in the berry fields. Juanita has 5 children ages 23, 21, 13, 11, and 9, and she is a grandmother as well. Juanita was a young single mother, and she is a provider and a fighter. She made sure she provided for her young children at times working two or sometimes even three jobs.
After meeting her husband 13 years ago her life changed knowing that she now had someone who was going to be there for her. She had her 3 younger children and became a stay-at-home mom cherishing the time she was able to spend with her kids.
As time passed, she had a desire to return to the work force and accepted a job in Elysian as a preschool teacher for a migrant program. After a few years of teaching, she advanced to a position as a family advocate helping families get whatever was needed to make a life here. Sometimes it was just picking up a child for school. She is grateful for her opportunities and recognizes that it forced her to grow as a person and change.
Juanita joined the Faribault High School as a Para and EL teacher, and now she is one of the coordinators of the RISE program for Faribault Public Schools. She continues to do what she does really well – help others. She provides social, emotional and academic support to the students giving 1000% - and it shows!!
We are so excited to have you Juanita!! Welcome to Rotary!!
