LA HABRA : She Teaches Them More Than ABCs

When Maria Azucena Vigil was 8 years old, her parents couldn’t afford to pay membership dues for her to join the Girl Scouts.

Undaunted, she spent a day in the library reading all about the group, then formed a “pretend troop” made up of friends who lived in her Florida neighborhood. The members spoke Spanish and took pride in their Latin American roots.

Today, Vigil, a 57-year-old kindergarten teacher at Las Lomas Elementary School, carries on with the work she started as a youngster.

The bilingual education teacher, whose pupils speak little or no English, teaches respect for the Latino culture. Vigil wants her students not only to learn their ABCs and numbers but to be proud of who they are. She seeks to involve their parents and make schoolwork a family affair.

For her work, Vigil, who was named California Teacher of the Year by the state for 1992, was honored last month with a $25,000 National Educator Award from the Milken Family Foundation.

Vigil said that she used some of the money to pay off her 1992 income taxes but that the rest of the cash will go toward funding cultural programs for Las Lomas students.

“For my life to be worthwhile, I have to do something besides make money,” Vigil said. “I believe that if I can reach 30 children each year and give them hope in desperate situations, life can be beautiful for them.”

Vigil said she remembers when she was a kindergartner with no feeling of self-worth or self-esteem.

“I was ashamed of who I was because my family was poor and we were different,” she said. “But I only felt that way at school. I knew I was smart, but I suffered because I didn’t feel I was what the teacher wanted. I don’t want my students to feel that way.”

To prevent her students from feeling belittled and alienated, Vigil has their parents come to Las Lomas in the evenings twice a month. She teaches the parents how to help their children with their homework, encourages them to take English classes and tells them not to be afraid to come to the school for advice on any problems the family may have.

“I never came to the school unless I had to,” Flavia Martinez, whose son, Saul, is in Vigil’s class, said in Spanish. “Now, I come all the time.

“Mrs. Vigil helps me teach my kids how to count, and she tells me to read to them,” Martinez added. “Without her, I would not be able to help my kids because I wouldn’t know how to help. What I like most is that she teaches about our culture so my children won’t forget our history and our traditions.”

On one recent morning, Vigil led her class in the flag salute, first in English, then in Spanish. She taught all subjects, mainly in Spanish.

Her students recited the Spanish alphabet, a couple of poems about seeds and snails, sang some Mexican songs, danced, added and subtracted simple numbers, rehearsed a play and listened to a story about tadpoles.

“We learn lots of stuff,” said Stephanie Ortiz, 5. Vigil “likes having our parents here and makes us proud of ourselves.”

Vigil also inspires fellow teachers with her techniques.

“She’s been a great mentor for me,” said Eden Turner, another bilingual kindergarten teacher at Las Lomas. “She teaches these children to respect themselves, each other and their environment. Her whole life is dedicated to them. She gets them excited about who they are and why their culture is important.”