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SMHS teacher’s promise takes him to Mexico

When Starr’s Mill High student Magdalena Corona held up her end of the bargain to do well in school, her ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher, Jose Casablanca, didn’t hesitate to go the “extra mile” (or in this case, miles) to prove he cares about her success.

Casablanca promised Magdalena, who has only been in the country six months, that if she made good grades, he would personally deliver a good news card and a SMHS T-shirt to her mother when she went home to Guanajuato (about 220 miles northwest of Mexico City) to visit her family over the holiday break.

“Well, she did [do well in school] so there I went,” said Casablanca. “Some 2,167 miles later I was in Valle de Santiago, a small town surrounded by seven volcanoes in the southern part of the state of Guanajuato.”

During his stay, Casablanca visited some of the local schools, went to a shoe factory, toured silver mines of the area and walked inside two volcano craters. He also talked with some of Magdalena’s former classmates and friends. Always the teacher, Casablanca could not pass up the opportunity to talk to them about the importance of getting an education.

“I re-emphasized to all the importance of staying in and doing well in school, particularly if they are thinking about coming to the U.S.,” he said.

Casablanca is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel and certified teacher who currently heads the ESOL program at Starr’s Mill. He also coaches the girls’ golf team and is a facilitator for the school system’s diversity training program.

“Mr. Casablanca is one of many excellent teachers at Starr’s Mill High who go the extra mile to model honesty, integrity and dedication. He is one of the reasons why we are so successful,” said assistant principal John Bouchell.