As a teacher of 28 years, Adelina Perez said she feels like “la abuelita” of the students at Beamer Elementary School.

Growing up, Perez always enjoyed helping her classmates. From the time she was in second grade, her heart was already set on teaching.

Originally from Kelseyville, California, which is situated about an hour and 45 minutes northwest of Woodland, Perez moved to the area for college, splitting her undergraduate years between Sacramento State and UC Davis. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Chicano studies and completing a year of substitute teaching back in Lake County, Perez entered into the multicultural multilingual program to get her bilingual teaching credential.

Perez was placed at Beamer Elementary to complete her student teaching requirements and fell in love with the program, students and community.

“It shows,” said Beamer Principal Hortencia Hernandez of Perez’s love for the school. “She is dedicated, committed and eager to challenge herself and continue to grow. She has a great knowledge of our school’s history and continues to love watching our students grow, take risks and become bilingual.”

Perez has taught a span of different grade levels during her tenure at Beamer, spending time teaching first, second, third and most recently, fifth grade. She is now in her first year as an English language specialist where she works to support their school and teachers, focusing on the English language development of Beamer’s EL students. She also teaches two classes: fourth-grade ELD and first-grade ALD, or academic language development.

Through it all, Perez said learning to be collaborative has significantly contributed to her success as a teacher.

“It’s not just my students and my class, but they are our students in the entire grade level,” Perez emphasized. “We’ve always worked collaboratively and being a dual immersion program, we’ve gone through so many changes together.”

Beamer Elementary School boasts one of the oldest dual immersion programs in California, with the school set to celebrate 40 years of dual immersion next year. The goal of the dual immersion program at Beamer is for students to be bilingual and biliterate by the time they graduate sixth grade. Perez explained having access to these sorts of programs is essential to ensure students’ success as they move out into the world after schooling.

“It’s very important because in the global economy, we want to ensure the students can compete and have the skills necessary to compete at that level,” Perez stressed. “As an EL specialist, I need to ensure the resources are in place in the classrooms to ensure the students are understanding the curriculum that is being presented.”

Hernandez said Perez has taken on her new role as EL specialist with “great pride,” describing her as “a teacher who demonstrates dedication and passion to the dual immersion profession.”

“Her heart and soul reflect her commitment to students, her colegas, our familias and our community,” Hernandez said. “Maestra Perez is very well versed in dual immersion instruction and offers support to all on our campus, be it students, parents and staff. She is humble and always has a positive outlook and a Si Se Puede attitude. She is respected by many and has a great understanding of the collaborative nature.

“She believes in collaboration, shared agreements and shared vision to achieve all goals. She is part of our school’s history and success, and I am honored to work alongside Adelina.”

Perez said the best thing about being a teacher is all the meaningful relationships she’s been able to foster over the years. Besides academic goals for her students, Perez said she hopes that by the end of the year, her students know that she will always be a resource for them whenever they need it.

“I want them to know that we are another resource for them, another family for them and they can always come back to us if they need anything,” Perez said. “To know we are here for them wherever they are at. It’s just that family connection. It’s nice because some of my first students have become my colleagues now and it’s just the beauty of that connection.”

On the weekends, Perez said she can be found doing all the normal activities like reading and watching movies and, most importantly, spending time with her family. When she’s not rooting on her nieces and nephews at their sports games, she’s driving to the Sacramento area to visit with friends or traveling back to Lake County to spend time with her parents.

“With each stage of my teaching career, I have enjoyed being part of my students’ learning career, watching them grow and take risks in their learning and becoming bilingual students,” Perez said. “I appreciate the relationships I have developed with the parents over the years. I also appreciate the trust we have with our community and love to see that I am now part of my previous students’ children’s education. I feel like la abuelita of our students.”