Saying “Gracias” to Garza

After 21 years at The Hive, Mrs. Garza will be retiring

Mrs. Celia Garza has been teaching Native Speaker Spanish 2 and 3 as well as Advanced Placement Spanish 4 at Oxnard High School for 21 years. The time has come for her to retire and say goodbye to the school she has known for a large portion of her life.

 

She graduated from OHS after attending it for only three years because she was able to take summer classes and jump ahead with her coursework as a sophomore in Mexico. She will be retiring five years earlier than expected. Mrs.Garza said, “My husband is a junior high teacher and taught for 25 years, and we both decided to retire early.”

 

Throughout her teaching career, students have been able to get extra help and guidance in the Spanish program. Mrs. Garza added that her motivation to become a teacher was to help Mexican Americans improve their Spanish skills. One of her students, OHS senior Valeria Sanchez said, ”I learned to communicate better with people now, and I also learned to understand better [with] the help of Mrs.Garza.”

 

There have been many good times and many happy students that she has taught. One of the  most important memories for her were the smiles on the students’ faces when they came back to her class to tell her that they passed the AP exam.

 

In addition, she recalled her travels to Hawaii with the OHS band and the Migrant Program chaperone. She has had many experiences over the years and has seen faces come and go.

 

OHS junior Litzy Garcia said, “Mrs.Garza is a great teacher. You can talk to her about everything. She’s always gonna be there for you, and I’m going to miss her.”

 

Although Mrs. Garza is retiring, the positive influence she had on OHS is here to stay.