School Activist’s Efforts Are Rewarded

A Wilmington woman who led a 12-year fight to get a new cafeteria and classrooms for an elementary school was surprised during the dedication ceremony Friday when the building was named in her honor.

A beaming Irma C. Castillo was joined by more than 100 Wilmington parents and community leaders as Los Angeles schools area Supt. Francis Nakano made the announcement on the grounds of the Wilmington Park Elementary School.

“This cafeteria is just a beginning,” Castillo, 52, said in Spanish, which was translated for the audience. “It’s just an example of how to make our dreams of a better life for all of us come true.”

School board member Warren Furutani called the project a “political coup,” citing the support Castillo and her parents’ group was able to muster from local and state government. He said that although Castillo appears to be soft-spoken and demure, “she’s a savvy politician. She works with such a humanitarian style, you can’t say no.”

In 1975, Castillo and other parents first requested a cafeteria for their children, who had been eating lunch in an uncovered patio area. Soot from an industrial plant across the street still rains down on the patio, and pigeons and sea gulls harass the children as they eat.

As more people moved into the area, the facilities of the 80-year-old campus were stretched. Castillo’s four sons attended the school, and--due to overcrowding--one even had class in a converted restroom.

After 10 years of lobbying, parents won the support of school board President John Greenwood, although they were told that money for a new cafeteria and classrooms was not available. Instead of giving up, they complained about discrimination to the U.S. Department of Justice and lobbied in Sacramento for money.

In 1986, the school board secured $2.5 million in state reconstruction funds for a new cafeteria and six classrooms. The board set aside an additional $1.2 million of school district funds to complete the project. Construction began in 1987, and the building opened this fall when students moved into the six second-floor classrooms. Students will begin using the cafeteria by the end of the month, Principal Patricia McKenna said.

Wilmington Park has 1,170 students, 95% of whom are Latino, McKenna said. Half of them recently emigrated from Mexico.

The ceremonies were marked by touches that heralded that ethnicity: the Pledge of Allegiance was recited in Spanish and in English, and there was a 10-piece mariachi band, Mexican folk dancing and a group poetry recital in Spanish.

A royal-blue ribbon was stretched across the two-story, salmon-pink Irma C. Castillo Cafeteria building, which is trimmed with light-blue tile.

“How do you open a gift?” McKenna asked the crowd of children. “You cut the ribbon. And that’s what we’re doing today. This cafeteria is a gift to Wilmington Park.”

Castillo, wearing a purple orchid corsage, warmly greeted guests at a luncheon before the ceremony. “I’m very happy,” she said in English. “For me it’s special, because like you see, most of the parents don’t speak English. And we accomplished something very special.”

Castillo, who is the PTA president, said her involvement with the school had taken much understanding from her family. “I’m glad that my husband didn’t complain about the telephone bill,” she said.