They celebrate Pedro Hernández for his 40 years of teaching

Victor Ballinas

La Jornada Newspaper
Saturday, October 19, 2024, p. 11

The Centauro del Norte primary school, located in the Iztapalapa mayor’s office, was celebrating yesterday. Its director, Professor Pedro Hernández, general secretary of section 9 of the dissident teaching profession of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), completed 40 years of service.

Hernández, founder of the campus in 1992 and is responsible for both shifts, had a tribute to his academic career and for this reason dances were held for students and teachers.

The leader’s sister, Mercedes Hernández, was in charge of reading his profile: “beyond what it means to endure the authoritarian rudeness of inexperienced officials and authoritarian governors, the hardest part of those days was, in addition to resting in the harshness of the asphalt barely cushioned by cardboard, doing it with the floor wet from the rain.

“Pedro was born on October 25, 1964, in the Agrícola Oriental neighborhood of Mexico City, into a family of nine siblings. His parents, from Tamasulapam del Progreso, in the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, emigrated to the capital. His father worked in the maquila. He made coats and jackets that bore labels from prestigious department stores.

“At six years old, Pedro went with his uncles Marcelina and Bernabé to Tamasulapam. He lived there the happiest childhood he could have had. Although his uncle was illiterate, he had a philosophy in which he trained his nephew. With him he learned to take care of animals, sow and harvest. Nostalgic, at age 12 he asked to be returned to the city. He wanted to be an agronomist, but he could not enter Chapingo, because his family was not a farmer.

He became a normalist. It was four years of studies after high school and you got a place. In 1980, at the age of 15, he entered the Meritorious National School of Teachers. He came out when he was 19 years old. He enjoyed a scholarship to support teaching materials.

After the reading, in the space designated for rest and recreation for the students and teachers, they performed dances inspired by Oaxacan tradition: Pinotepa, Flor de Piña, Fiesta Huasteca, Diablos and Tiliches, among others.

At the end of the celebration, in an interview the general secretary of section 9 stated: “40 years of service is a satisfaction. We started in 1984, on September 1, graduated from the Meritorious National School of Teachers. We were assigned to a school here in Iztapalapa; Furthermore, I had to be in the Santa Catarina mountain range. We arrived as young normal students, at 19 years of age, we were practically children with many hopes, we had many goals for an alternative education.

In 1992 we had the opportunity to found this school and from here propose much of what we have done in terms of a different education. Reaching 40 years of service being part of the CNTE is very satisfying because we have seen many generations of children and young people pass byhe concluded.