Fabiola Espinoza-Pacheco
Originally from the twin cities of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Fabiola Espinoza-Pacheco has spent her entire professional career as a bilingual educator in Albuquerque, New Mexico, first as a 4th grade dual-language teacher for several decades and later as the bilingual education coordinator at Albuquerque High School. Among her responsibilities at AHS is preparing students for the rigors of the district, state, and global bilingual seals that are applied to the diplomas of students who fulfill all the requirements of earning a seal, which means taking 4-8 core courses over four years that are taught exclusively in Spanish. This was not an option for her when she was a high school student, even though she was fully bilingual and biliterate. By fulfilling the responsibilities of her current position, Fabiola has found a way to give to others what she was never able to have for herself.