Kinder   Mr. Manuel Larraga Kinder Marilu Galindo Kinder Marilú Galindo is a graduate of Hidalgo Elementary School and is currently teaching Kindergarten. She joined Hidalgo ISD in 1995 and has been teaching ever since. She was born in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico and presently resides in McAllen. She holds a Bachelors and Masters Degree from the University of Texas Pan American. Mrs. Galindo is married and spent the first eight years of her marriage in Southeast Asia with her husband who is a foreign national. She plans to travel throughout Europe in the near future to see as much of the world as possible. Mabel Pietrzak Kinder Mabel Davila Pietrzak is the daughter of Elvia Robles de Davila of Hidalgo and the late Jesus Davila Guerra. She was born and raised in McAllen, Texas and graduated from McAllen High School in 1970 at the age of 16. she majored in Education and minored in History graduating from Pan American University in 1974. In January 1975, Mr. G.P. Baker hired her to work at Hidalgo elementary. She began her teaching career at the kindergarten level but has taught many other levels since then. In 1976, she moved with her husband to Cholula, Puebla where they both taught ESL classes at the Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. Later they moved to Tampico, Tamaulipas where she taught seventh and eight grade English Literature at the Instituto Anglo-Mexicano. In 1983, the Pietrzak family moved to Reynosa and Mabel Pietrzak returned to work at Hidalgo Elementary. She taught second grade for twelve years and then in 1996 she returned to teaching kindergarten in the same room with the same tables as before, but everything around her had changed. Classes were smaller, air-conditioning had been installed, the low windows had been bricked up and there was an abundance of educational material. She lived in Mexico a total of 20 years. In March 1997, after a couple of weeks in the hospital it was discovered that she had cancer. After a timely operation and many, many prayers, she was able to return to teaching in August of that year. She is now a ten-year cancer survivor. This experience has led her to believe that we should be grateful for every breath we take and should try to make the most of each minute we spend with our family, friends, and students. Mabel has traveled extensively all over the world. She has visited Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Israel, Egypt, Australia, Canada, Belize, Guatemala, and Turkey. She has especially traveled and driven throughout Mexico and the United States. Everywhere she has gone, she has met kind and wonderful people. Her next destinations are Central America and South America. Her favorite place in all the world is the Rio Grande Valley. She loves to swim and snorkel. The undersea world is to her like another dimension where it seems you can fly. As a dual language teacher, she understands that knowing two languages well is of the utmost importance in this ever-changing world and strives hard to promote that belief. Mabel Pietrzak has been married for 32 years to Michael Jay Pietrzak from Chicago. They have four sons: Jaime, Isaac, Miky, and Tomy. Ana Pena Teaching Assistant, Kindergarten Curriculum Assistant Bernadette Garcia Kindergarten Teaching Assistant Office Assistant Bernadete Elena Palomares Garcia was born in McAllen and raised in Hidalgo. She lives with her parents and grandparents. Her grandparents were Juan Guerra, Sr. and Senona Vela Guerra, and her parents are Juan Jose and Ramona Palomares. Bernadette attended Hidalgo Elementary School and graduated from Hidalgo High School. The most enjoyable time of her childhood was having great conversations with her grandparents since they were one of the founding families of Hidalgo. While in High School she participated in the Mighty Pirate Band of which she has fond memories. After graduation from Hidalgo High School she worked for a construction company in Edinburg. Then in 1991 she started working for Hidalgo I.S.D. and has been working here to the present. Irma Cabrera Teaching Assistant, Kindergarten Content Mastery