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by Joe V. Sanchez Antonio Elizondo and his wife Maria lived in the same building used as a school and which provided basic education in Spanish for the barrio children. Maria P. Elizondo became known as "Mariita" as a term of endearment.
Self-contained classes ranging from Kindergarten to fourth grade were taught in the local "jacal" (thatched house) on Cedro Street in Weslaco. Hidalgo Street was one house to the south and Victor Garza's Grocery was at the southeast corner, facing West.
There were several benches for the children of various ages - but no blackboard, no pencil sharpeners, no textbooks, no teacher aides, no grades. This arrangement would bring joy to a lot of students today.
There was, however, the long stick! The long (about 10 feet, flexible) stick could reach across the room to the students in the back rows. Talking with your neighbor, whispering, laughing out of turn, too much squirming and sometimes 'wrong answers, were dealt with a deft tap of the stick at the perpetrator. As much as you wanted to tease the "punished one", the lady in the long dress would not tolerate that. In that classroom, there was quiet and order, and yes, teaming.
My turn to attend Mariita's school came in the 40's. By that time, the school was located some two blocks north from the original school, on the same street. Again, the Elizondo's lived next to a small former grocery store operated by her son, Antonio.
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"A, E I, 0, U! El Burro sabe màs que tu", the teacher would say when a student wouldn't recite the alphabet.
Classes were held only for a few hours per day - five days a week. Children would walk into class with a note from the parents and that was the enrollment process. Tuition was no problem. Occasionally, the students would bring a quarter to the teacher and that would prompt a parent-teacher "conference".
Each student would bring their "Blue Horse" tablet or a Big Chief (the legal size one) tablet and a hand- sharpened pencil.
Assignments were taken home and the teacher required a parents' signature when they were turned in. It is likely that the parents were the real students in those days.
Mariita provided a fundamental, basic educational background to many of us in the barrios of Weslaco in those poverty-stricken days of yore. Many senior citizens living today can recall the teacher at the Cedro Street school who, through dedication and perseverance, inculcated the seed of learning in our minds.
Nobody ever graduated from Mariita's school. But it can be argued that later many graduated from some school only because they went to her school. The alphabet, some writing, a little math, a touch of history, a few songs nobody sings anymore . . .
The most independent of teachers, she didn't care what TEA or superintendents were using as a curriculum,
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she taught what she thought was needed - all in Spanish.
When Maria P. Elizondo was born (1882), George Washington had been dead only 82 years. The Civil War had been fought only 17 years earlier and Chief Sitting Bull was still alive.
One of Mariita's sons, Antonio, operated a landmark grocery store in Weslaco (El Faro) for some 50 years. Antonio, Jr's wife, Lala was a prominent local social and political figure during the transformation in Weslaco.
Today, the old grocery store has given away to a Catholic Credit Union which continues to serve the community much as the early business did.
The former El Faro building stands at N. Cedro and Llano Grande Street. In the 1940's, the outside electric light attracted the barrio teenagers, becoming the evening hangout. Thus, El Faro (beacon), lived up to its name.
Mariita went to a better life in 1964. Her dedication and love of education has earned her a place, in the hearts of those of us who were privileged to be in her classes, even if for a short time.
It has been 77 years since my, mother, Maria V. Sanchez, was, one of Mariita's students, but her memories of the teacher with the long dress are still very vivid.
Thank you, Doņa Mariita, Rest in peace.
This article is from the Weslaco, Texas MID- Valley Town Crier.
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