Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - New school named for Mr. and Mrs. Mireles

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Tuesday, July 27, 1999

New school named for Mr. and Mrs. Mireles
Bear Creek school to honor longtime educators who were pioneers of bilingual education
By Jonathan Osborne
Caller-Times

More than 300 supporters said it was time for a school to be named for Edmund and Jovita Mireles, prominent bilingual educators.
   On Monday the school board unanimously agreed, setting off a celebration in which all that was missing were horns and trumpets.
   With all the fanfare of a political rally, hundreds of supporters with buttons reading "The time is now, I support naming a school for Mr. and Mrs. Mireles" crowded into the board room and overflowed into the lobby of the Corpus Christi Independent School District administration building.
   Miniature U.S. flags waved.
   Eyes watered.
   "Today Corpus Christi is a better place to live because of their contribution to society," said trustee Rene Vela, who described the Mireleses as ideal role models for the community.
   Edmund Mireles, who died in March 1987, is recognized nationwide as the father of bilingual education. He was a longtime educator who launched the nation's first elementary school bilingual program in Corpus Christi in 1940.
   Prominent community and state leaders such as Sen. Carlos Truan and attorney Ruben Bonilla spoke on behalf of the famous educators.
   "Today is a wonderful example of democracy at work," said Truan D-Corpus Christi. "This will be a reminder to all children about the value of these two educators."
   The new school, which is scheduled to open for the 2000-2001 school year, will be located in the Bear Creek subdivision next to Bill Witt Park.
   Mireles came to Corpus Christi in 1939 and began teaching Spanish in grade school the next year. That was in direct conflict with a law that at the time prohibited teaching foreign languages to elementary school students. He enlisted the help of powerful politicians and statesmen, including then-U.S. Rep. Lyndon Johnson and then-first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, to repeal the law in 1941.
   That same year, Mireles established a Spanish institute in Corpus Christi to train teachers and set up an adult education program. In 1956, he started a preschool program for non-English-speaking children. He taught for nearly 40 years.
   With his wife, Mireles wrote the "Mi Libro Espa¤ol" series, which was used for several years in school districts across Texas and in other states. Jovita Mireles taught for two decades at Miller and Ray high schools. She died in 1982.
   Carroll High School sophomore John Prezas, who, as a representative of the National Hispanic Institute, urged the board to name the school after the Mireleses, said the couple's accomplishments still affect kids today.
   "(The Mireles) made a difference," John, 16, said. "Some people I know at Carroll speak only Spanish. If it wasn't for them, people would still be slapped on the hand for speaking Spanish."
   Twice before, the Mireleses' name has come before the board as a nomination for a new school, but twice it has failed.
   In 1993, the school board voted 5-1 to name a new middle school after the Rev. Elliott Grant, a longtime civil rights leader and CCISD board member, instead of the Mireleses. In 1997, the board chose World War II veteran Joe Dawson over the Mireleses as the namesake of an elementary school in southern Corpus Christi.
   Benito Barrera, chairman of publicity for Project Mireles, the group that spearheaded efforts to name the school after the couple, said he was pleased with the outcome and that his organization would continue to play an active role in the school.
   "It was a team effort," Barrera said. "We're going to continue working with the school. We're going to be very active."

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