2008 Woodie Awards
Educator says teaching background helpful to trustee
By Regis L. Roberts
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: News
Originally published: 4/17/08 at 7:45 PM CSTLast update: 4/17/08 at 8:44 PM CST
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Bustamante, 50, has been an educator for 25 years, a career path she chose when she was an education major at this college before moving on to Texas A&M-Kingsville where she received a bachelor of science degree in education.
Now she is interested in how the community colleges work compared with when she attended in the late 1970s.
"How do they take care of their students?" she asked. "How do they guide their students? I'm curious to find out about that."
She has been with South Side Independent School District for her entire teaching career and is currently a music teacher at Freedom Elementary, a position she has maintained for five years.
During her time as an educator, she has seen countless numbers of students with unique situations. In fact, she was administering a TAKS test to dyslexic students Wednesday.
These experiences as an educator make her well-suited for a position on the board of trustees representing San Antonio's community colleges, she said.
Throughout her time as a teacher, she has had former students approach her and tell her they decided not to continue their education in college.
She said she wants to improve the opportunities of young people to be able to attend college.
How she will improve opportunities for students on the South Side and in general she was not clear on.
She said she is not familiar with how the board of trustees works, but figured it would be similar to school boards, which she has dealt with as a teacher.
She also said she does not keep up with district news regularly, but has tried to look into district matters more since beginning her run for District 3 trustee.
"I do know that I'm going to pay attention to the issues and ask questions when I need to ask questions, and be an advocate for opportunities for everyone," she said.
Though this college is not in her district, she said it is the school she keeps up with more often because she has a special attachment to it.
When she was a student here, she played guitar in a mariachi band.
Her 14-year-old son, Alex III, also attended a preparatory program hosted by this college.
What gets her most excited is when she discusses her recent work in community activism, which she said also lends to her qualifications for the board position.
She has been working with her sister's nonprofit El Carmen Society for Community Advancement to build playgrounds for children in her community.
Writing grants and working with the city to develop playgrounds are things she said have added to her experience.
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