Fingers interwoven, the 23 Elvira Elementary School second graders cupped their hands on top of their heads, elbows pointed out from each ear. Their backs arched.
“Holy moly guacamole,” said their teacher, Arlene Wade-Peña, 47.
Arms came down. Chairs shifted. Loud whispers betrayed the quiet room. “Shhhhhhhhh,” came the pleas from a back corner desk.
The math test was almost over.
For 25 minutes Wade-Peña had paced the room, answering questions and reminding students what they have learned. “I love the way you guys are working so quietly,” she said. “You can do it. You can do your best.”
Wade-Peña has shown her students how to be exceptional for 23 years. On Tuesday, she was honored for that energy and dedication as one of four teachers in Arizona who earned the Esperanza Latino Teacher Award given by Chicanos por la Causa. Founded in 1969 in Arizona, the Latino nonprofit is one of the nation’s largest and one of its focuses is education. It has honored outstanding teachers since 1998.
The math assessment was delayed as family, friends, co-workers and media poured into Wade-Peña’s classroom and surprised her with a personal check for $5,000 and another $2,500 for Elvira, a K-6 school in the Sunnyside School District — about 3.5 miles from Tucson International Airport.
“You could go to Hawaii,” one student shouted to his teacher after he saw the check. “You should get pickles,” another added — while a couple were convinced Wade-Peña was now a millionaire.
Earning big money was what Arlene Wade told her fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Miller, she would do when he advised her she could someday have a classroom of her own. “I told him ‘No.’ I’m going to make money,” she said. “But now, my passion is to teach the kids I was once.”
A product of the Sunnyside District, Wade-Peña’s road to cultivating her career was long. As one of seven children, she knew the path to college would be rocky. After earning an associate’s degree at Pima Community College, Wade-Peña worked two jobs — one as a teacher’s aide in the Sunnyside District and another in a Tucson Unified School District early learning center — as a single mom.
Encouraged by other teachers, Wade-Peña earned an education degree at the University of Arizona. And then endured 18 months of chemotherapy and radiation after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer at age 28.
“I didn’t miss a day of work,” she said. “You do what you have to do, whatever it takes.”
She is now in remission and the mother of four kids ages 28, 26, 11 and 9. And the fire she had as a teacher’s aide burns brighter now. Her husband, Florencio Peña, witnesses it every day. “It’s her heart. She has a passion for teaching. She still loves her job,” he said. “We can’t go anywhere without running into current or past students. Former students are now requesting her for their kids.”
She inspires outside the classroom too: Wade-Peña coordinates the Elvira kindergarten Jump Start Program — welcoming new families; volunteers as a Little League parent; and mentors young teachers. All of it motivates her boss, Elvira Principal Kelley Brooks-Cavaletto.
“I have learned that there is no such thing as enough from Mrs. Wade-Peña,” Brooks-Cavaletto said. “On those days even as principal when I feel like I am juggling all the plates, I think about Mrs. Wade and I think, ‘if she can do it, then I can buckle up and do it.’”
The kids sustain Wade-Peña. “College isn’t a dream. It’s a must do,” she said. She is a connection from their daily lives to what is possible.
“She gives us fun things to do,” said Xander Romero-Galarza, 7. “I probably got all those math problems right. I’ve learned how to compose and decompose. But what I really like is telling her how I do at my baseball games.”
As a pitcher/second baseman, Xander hit a double in his last game. And his teacher was one of the first to hear about it the morning after.
“I treat them like they are mine. I take my job home with me,” she said. “It doesn’t stop when the door is closed.”
As the classroom door shut on Tuesday, student teacher Adriana Lopez, 22, followed the students and Wade-Peña out into the afternoon sun and watched the hub bub around her mentor.
“She’s shown me to always give it your all, stay late, get here early,” Lopez said. “Patience is key. Take time to make connections with kids. It’s simple things like saying good morning and letting kids talk with you about their weekend, their day.”
As students wandered off the playground and onto buses, many checked-in with Wade-Peña about her award.
“Oh my goodness,” she explained. “People came into the classroom. I was not sure what was happening. We were learning about butterflies. I just kept teaching.”
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