Heppner gazette-times., October 04, 2000, Page FIVE, Image 5

Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday October 4, 2000 - FIVE
New and familiar faces in teaching positions at area schools
There are some new faces and
some very familiar ones in the
halls of south Morrow County
Schools. New teachers at
Heppner Elementary School
include Molly Rill, Mary Ann
Elguezabal and Lindsay Harle.
Gordon Cooper is new at
Heppner High School and
Nohemi Estrada-Suro is a new
teacher in lone.
Molly Rill
Molly Rill, a kindergarten
teacher at Heppner Elementary
School, is teaching in the same
room she had attended as a
second grader.
Rill, 48, was bom in Portland
to Laurence and Florence Becket,
but has lived in Heppner most of
her life. Her great-grandfather
settled in the Eight-Mile area in
the 1880s and her grandfather
moved up the road about five
miles from where she was raised.
Her husband Cecil's family
homesteaded in the same canyon.
Rill graduated from Heppner
High School in 1970. She
married and had two children,
Lonnie, now 21 and a lance
corporal in the Marines working
at Camp LeJeunne, North
Carolina,
as
a
Hummer
repairman; and Leland, 16, a
junior at Heppner High School.
From 1984-1990 Rill was
employed by the Morrow County
School District, first as a
secretary and eventually as an
accounts
payable/investment
clerk. She then moved to the
Morrow County Extension
Office where she was officer
coordinator from 1990-1999.
During that time she decided
she wanted to earn a college
degree.
She received her
bachelor's degree in liberal
studies in 1998 and a master's in
elementary education in 1999.
Not only did she attend Heppner
Elementary as a student, but also
completed her student teaching
there.
The same year Rill received her
master's degree, she was hired at
Sam Boardman Elementary
School.
In addition to work, completing
her education and raising a
family, Rill has been active at
Valby Lutheran Church, was a
long-time member of the
Soroptimist Club, was a member
of the Heppner Elementary Site
Council, a five-year member of
the Morrow County School
Board and was active in 4-H and
the 4-H auction. She also enjoys
gardening, canning, reading and
watching football games.
K
Mary Ann Elguezabal
While Mary Ann Elguezabal in
not new to Heppner Elementary,
she is newly hired as a half-time
reading teacher at HES.
Elguezabal, 45. was bom at
Nyssa to John and Peg Donty,
and graduated from Nyssa High
School in 1972. She met her
husband. Juan, in high school
and they married in 1973 After
their marriage, she and Juan, who
was bom in a cave in Mexico,
went to Mexico to live. She
worked with her husband's
family on a cattle ranch and also
as field laborers in onions,
potatoes and beets in Oregon,
Washington and Idaho. She
laughs that she tried hard to keep
up with her sisters-in-law, but
couldn't quite do it.
She and her husband then
returned to school at Eastern
Oregon
University.
While
attending school she worked as a
lifeguard on the college campus.
He graduated from college and
she completed her student
teaching, partly at Nyssa where
they lived and partly at Nampa,
Idaho.
She graduated from
Eastern in 1979 with a degree in
elementary education before
starting her family.
Daughter Petra, now 20,
graduated from Heppner High
School in 1998 and is a student at
Western Oregon University at
Monmouth;
son Bias, 19,
graduated from Heppner in 1999
and is a student at Eastern
Oregon University; daughter,
SanJuamta, 17, is a senior at
HHS; son Juan Jesus "Chuy", 14.
is a freshman at HHS; son
Ignacio "Nacho", 10, is a fifth
grader at Heppner Elementary
School; and son Tomas, eight, is
in the third grade at HES.
While raising their children
Elguezabal also worked part-time
and did substituting. She worked
for Treasure Valley Community
College at Ontario for seven
years.
Her first full-time job was
teaching third grade at St. Peter's
Catholic School at Ontario
beginning in 1997. That year her
husband and their three oldest
children came to Heppner, where
he jot a job teaching and
coaching at HHS. She and the
younger children joined them in
Heppner in 1998 and she worked
as a substitute teacher. In 1999
she was hired as third grade
teacher at HES.
In her new capacity as reading
teacher, Elguezabal says she will
be focusing on children in grades
three to five who need to make
their state benchmarks in
reading. "I want to teach every
child to be a good reader," said
Elguezabal.
She is also working hard at
"keeping the family going" since
her husband, Juan, a dedicated
husband, father, teacher and
coach, died this past summer
Elguezabal is an active member
of St. Patrick's Catholic Church
in Heppner and enjoys watching
sports and riding horseback. "I
really like children," she added.
community, Harle helped coach
volleyball at Heppner High
School last fall and was HHS
assistant softball coach this
spring. Besides helping on the
Butter Creek ranch, Harle enjoys
animals,
horseback
riding,
reading and cooking.
**■
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Gordon Cooper
Gordon Cooper, new math
teacher at Heppner High School,
comes to our small rural
community as an international
traveler, w ith experience working
as a teacher in the U.S. and
abroad.
Cooper, 55, bom at Pocatello,
Idaho, was raised around
Emmett,
Weiser and Boise,
graduating from Emmett High
School. He attended Brigham
Young University where he
received a degree in political
science
and
international
relations and also met his wife,
Lynn.
After graduating from BYU in
1969, Cooper began teaching
math at a junior high in Emmett.
He taught on an emergency basis
at three different schools, picking
up education classes, and then
became certified in social
studies, history and government.
Cooper received his math
certification later, attending
Boise State and BYU.
He began teaching at Pine
Ridge Indian Reservation in
South Dakota in 1972, right after
the Wounded Knee incident in
which Native Americans took
over the town and were
surrounded by the FBI.
From 1974-1976, he taught
GED preparation and basic skills
at the Wyoming State Prison.
From 1976 to 1982, Cooper left
teaching and went into the family
business, operating a gas station
and convenience store at
American Fork and Salt Lake
City.
He returned to teaching in
1982, training jobless people for
the Job Corps at Clearfield, Utah.
He taught math skills and then
taught
college
preparatory
classes and supervised college
students.
In 1986 he accepted an offer to
teach social studies, history and
job preparation at a correctional
school at Caliente, Nevada.
In 1993, he and his wife, who
is also a teacher, decided to go
overseas and accepted positions
at the American School of
Kuwait. The school, with a
population of around 1,200
students in kindergarten through
12th grade, consisted of around a
Lindsay Harle
quarter
American students and a
While Lindsay Harle is a first
year teacher this year, she is not third Kuwaiti students, with the
new to Heppner Elementary rest coming from around 40
School, having completed her different countries. He taught
student teaching at HES with math and his wife taught music.
"We really liked it," said
teachers Mary Haguewood and
Kay Chinen. Harle is the special Cooper. "Kuwait is an easy
foreign place to live The Arab
education teacher at HES.
Harle. 23, is originally from people are known for their
Walla Walla, but grew up in hospitality. We were very well
Pendleton and The Dalles-Mosier treated. In a lot of ways, we felt
area. Her parents are Jo Ann safer there than in the United
Tingue, who lives on Butter States. We felt comfortable going
Creek, and Andy Harle, Newport. out for a walk at night." The first
She attended high school at place the Coopers lived overseas
Wahtonka, where she played was among Iranian Shiites.
volleyball,
softball
and Cooper said that the standard of
basketball. After graduating from living in Kuwait is very high and
Wahtonka in 1995, she attended they were able to get most of the
Washington State University at Western products they wanted.
The Coopers returned to the
Pullman, receiving a degree in
U.S.
for a brief time so he could
elementary
education/spccial
take
care
of family business and
education in 1999. While in
then
moved
to Saudi Arabia
college
she
played
cluh
where he again taught math and
volleyball and softball.
Harle says that WSU was very she music. They lived on a Saudi
cooperative in "jumping through air base, teaching children of
hoops" to allow her to complete Americans and British who
maintained Saudi Air Force
her student teaching in Heppner
helicopters. After the Coopers
She finished student teaching in
had taught there for two years,
December of 1999 and then
the school was closed because of
began substituting. She was hired
"low oil prices.”
in May to work for the Morrow
From there they traveled to
County School District this fall.
Sakhalin,
an island off the
Already active in the
eastern coast of Siberia where he
taught "everything" in grades
five through seven. At Sakhalin
they worked for Marathon Oil. a
Houston-based oil company
developing resources there. They
taught children of Americans and
Irish working for the company.
There were 10 students in the
whole school His wife taught K-
third grade. "It was cold for us,"
said Cooper, "but the Russians
said it wasn't."
After a year there, they
returned to the U.S. again to take
care of the family business and
also to be with their children and
grandchildren.
His wife accepted a teaching
position at Vancouver and he
was hired to teach integrated
math I, II and III and calculus at
HHS. "It's a good school with
good kids," comments Cooper. "I
think this would be a nice place
to raise a family."
His math room at HHS is
adorned with mementoes from
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The Coopers, who have a
home in Tualatin, have five
grown children and nine
grandchildren.
Nohemi Estrada-Suro
Nohemi Estrada-Suro, newly-
hired Spanish teacher for grades
seven-12 at lone Schools, grew'
up learning the value of work and
of education.
Estrada-Suro. originally from
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico,
was one of 13 children in a
blended family. Her mother died
when she was only four years old
and her father died when she was
in her 20s. She grew up in
prize was a job on a newspaper,
"El Pulso Politico " She wrote a
eulogy to her mother and won the
contest and the job The
experience was invaluable later
when she decided to start her
own newspaper.
Estrada-Suro quit teaching and
founded her own bilingual
newspaper. "El Pulso Hispano ."
She started the newspaper from
scratch, did layout and wrote
articles. Eventually she had two
offices, one in Vancouver and
one in Portland, and a readership
of around 10,000 people all over
the Northwest. "For the most
part, I was the only one doing
anything." she said. "It was so
consuming that I came to the
realization that I was killing
myself. It was quite challenging
and rewarding. I felt the Hispanic
community needed a voice "
After four successful years, she
shut the paper down and moved
to El Paso, where she taught
Spanish to 189 students at
Andress High School.
The
school had a population of a little
over 5,000 students. Living in El
Paso enabled her to often visit
Juarez, which she had left 26
years
before.
and
get
reacquainted w ith her sisters
The Northwest called to her
again, however, when she
learned that her daughter, who
lives in Vancouver, was pregnant
with her third child. Estrada
wanted to be near Teresa and her
grandchildren.
blue-eyed,
blonde-haired Shane, eight, and
Josiah. 15 months; her son Julio,
who lives in Portland and works
for Union Pacific, and son Mike,
who lives in Vancouver and
attends Clark College, her alma
mater.
Estrada-Suro. wanting a job
closer to Vancouver, but away
from the larger cities, found lone
on the Internet.
"I'm very happy to be here at
lone." she said. "I have found the
students very motivated and
eager to learn. I have some very
bright students.
Estrada-Suro is not yet done
with her education, however, and
is looking for an on-line master's
program in Spanish to complete
in her "spare time."
In addition to alw ays being on
the lookout for new teaching
ideas and strategies, Estrada is
working on developing Spanish
teaching aids. She also enjoys
fishing, working in the yard and
writing.
Juarez, a border town near El
Paso. Texas, where her father
owned a bakery. He had been a
baker since before he married his
first wife at the age of 15. The
kids grew up working in the
bakery before and after school,
sometimes baking the bread
when the baker didn't show up.
Her father gave the children who
worked in the business 25
percent of the income. The
children had to pay for their own
clothes and books, but Estrada-
Suro saved her money and was
even able to buy an MG-A to
drive her last year of high school.
She was only 16 when she
graduated.
"I feel I was very fortunate that
my father was paying me and
giving me all that responsibility
and freedom to develop I always
tell everyone that my father
invented women's lib. He taught
us to be self sufficient,
independent and strong."
Those characteristics became
invaluable for Estrada-Suro when
she was left a widow with two
children, a son Julio, then five,
and a daughter, Teresa, then nine.
At the time, she was in Juarez, "a
dessert, dry, dusty with no trees,"
when she saw a 4x8 poster of
Oregon. "I saw pine trees, deer
and a creek. That's when I
decided that's where I want to
live."
So, by herself, she packed up
the kids and moved to Hillsboro.
"I hardly knew English, didn't
have a job. didn't know anyone."
she said. She started learning
English at home, listening to a
tape recorder. She made herself
learn five words a day and then
quizzed herself. She said that
she was fortunate because she
had good Spanish language skills
and eventually taught herself
enough to enroll at Clark College
at Vancouver, where she earned
an associate's degree. From there
she transferred to the University
of Portland where she received a
bachelor of science degree in
secondary education with an
endorsement in Spanish.
After receiving her degree she
taught Spanish at Poyter Junior
High School in the Hillsboro
School District for a year and
then taught Spanish at Grant
High School in the Portland
School District for another year.
Estrada-Suro had been
interested in journalism since
entering a writing contest after
high school. The contest's first
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