"Are you the exception to the rule?" That question prompted Maryann Reynoso to decide she needed to teach in her community.

Then a student at Notre Dame University, Reynoso had been talking with her classmate about having grown up in Watts --- a community marred by poverty, gang violence, racial tensions and low expectations. The chance that a young person growing up in this environment could attend college was not good. And yet Maryann succeeded where others had not.

"I shouldn't be the exception to the rule," thought Maryann in response to her classmate's question. "I need to go back and fix it."

For the last six years Maryann has been teaching at San Miguel School, a little oasis in Watts, where children who graduate have a fighting chance to succeed in high school and college. It's the place where Maryann and her four siblings all attended elementary school.

A third grade teacher and also vice-principal, Maryann has the added benefit of having her mother, Carmen Reynoso, as a colleague. Carmen teaches second grade and has been at San Miguel 17 years. The school, she says, "is my home."

Indeed, for the largely immigrant community --- 95 percent of students are Latino --- San Miguel School and Parish offers families an opportunity to nourish and sustain a faith-filled community where families can count on one another.

Maryann said what helped her to succeed were the values and faith instilled by her parents. "Their expectations for us were very high," she recalled. "Education was a major priority and they made big sacrifices."

Ray of hope
A ray of hope in a violent area (several old school windows still bear bullet holes), San Miguel School will be the beneficiary of the 2008 Cardinal's Award Dinner next Feb. 9. Jesús Vasquez, principal for eight years and a teacher for ten, wants area children "to have the advantages of a Catholic education" --- strong academics and abundant faith.

The school provides students with a peaceful environment where youngsters attend Mass twice a month and participate in the Scripture readings and the petitions.

Bullet holes notwithstanding, "parents know that when their students are here, they are safe," added Vasquez, a father to two teens and one young adult --- all of whom graduated from the school.

San Miguel is a model multi-generational learning community. While their children are in school or during the evening, parents can take classes in English, citizenship, computer skills, sewing, crafts and more at the nearby Presentation Sisters Learning Center.

Vasquez and the teachers now want to strengthen the school by establishing a pre-school and a specialized learning center for students from pre-school through third grade.

"We have lost families because we don't have a pre-school," said Vasquez, noting that families don't want to deal with two different schools and move all their children to a school that has everything they need.

No new construction will be necessary; classrooms will be re-arranged in order to make room for the pre-school. Proceeds from the cardinal's dinner will fund new teaching staff, materials and textbooks.

A specialized early childhood education center will ensure that young students "will be given every opportunity to achieve in the area of reading and language arts, and math of course," said Pat Livingston, archdiocesan superintendent of elementary schools. "We want to offer the most up-to-date materials --- whatever it takes to flesh out the vision as it comes from the teachers."

Increased safety
Gang members from the neighborhood no longer deface the little school with graffiti.

They used to show up at dismissal time which scared parents and students. Realizing they just wanted to play basketball on the school's outdoor court, Vasquez joined their game.

"I'm not calling the police," Vasquez remembered telling the adolescents after he won their trust. "You're utilizing the school and that's very, very good. However, we would like you to come a little later. Respect the school so children feel like coming here. This is the school of your barrio."

The teens and young adults listened to the neighborhood principal and continue to occasionally use the court once the students have gone for the day.

Also on the San Miguel wish list: playground equipment --- and new windows.

For information about the Cardinal's Awards Dinner, call (213) 637-7636.