San Benito celebrates 100 years

By FERNANDO DEL VALLE/VALLEY MORNING STAR
January 18, 2009 - 10:26 PM

SAN BENITO — When she started teaching, many of Angela Leal's 60 students used crates for desks in her classroom.

"I had children sitting on apple boxes," said Leal, who started teaching for Cameron County schools in 1943.

"I had a boy who was 18 years old, and I was 18 years old," said Leal, now 86, San Benito school district's first Hispanic principal.

"We were teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Everything was very simple."

Last week, the school district kicked off a six-month celebration of its 100th anniversary.

Through May, students will glimpse into the past to celebrate the district's first 100 years, said Celeste Sanchez, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.

"To celebrate our present, we have to remember our past," Sanchez told an audience gathered Jan. 12 for an event that kicked off the celebration.

In 1907, 48 students enrolled for class in a one-room schoolhouse that served as the center of education in the frontier town.

On April 17, 1909, the district was incorporated.

Col. Sam Robertson, the city's founder, served on the first school board.

Three months after the district's incorporation, 24 residents voted to build two brick school buildings.

Mrs. D.P. Holt was elected teacher at a salary of $60 a month.

"There's a lot of history here in San Benito schools," said Celia Longoria, the district's spokeswoman.

In 1955, Superintendent John Barron hired Leal as the district's first Hispanic principal.

"I didn't see it that way. I didn't see the difference. I never discriminated," Leal said of her legacy. "I'm so proud of San Benito. I think it's tops."

When he graduated from San Benito High School in 1956, students still went to school in classrooms built around the time of the district's incorporation, Bob Tumberlinson said.

"Everything was old," said Tumberlinson, the former high school principal who serves on the school board. "I don't think we had a single new building since shortly after the beginning."

In 1974, Oscar de la Fuente became the district's first Hispanic school board president.

"I'm very proud I had a chance to do something for San Benito," de la Fuente said last week after officials honored him for his work on the school board.

"It's very rewarding," said de la Fuente, a former longtime justice of the peace who served 12 years on the school board.

As part of the ceremony, officials honored Dr. Raul Garza, the family doctor for whom the district dedicated an elementary school in 1998.

"I am glad to have been a part of it," Garza said in an interview.

Since 1997, voters passed four bond issues that earmarked $125 million toward construction projects that transformed the district's schools.

"The type of school boards we have have always been progressive," Garza said of the push to fund construction projects.

In 2006, the district dedicated an elementary school in honor of de la Fuente.

"They're seeing the results now," de la Fuente said of voters who passed bond issues to fund a series of projects. "We used it carefully. The kids are getting better and better educated because we have more to offer."

Article taken from Valley Morning Star on 01/19/2009