Sonia Longoria

A hero is who helps other people just like this hero I’m going to tell you about. My hero’s name is Sonia Longoria.

Mrs. Longoria was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. She has one sister and two brothers. Since an early age she liked to work hard. When she was five years old and while her brother was at school, she would get her brother’s magazines and rent them out to make some money. She always tried to do what her older brother Hector would do. “At the age of eight he already had his own business renting and repairing bikes. He even had his own account in the bank,” she said. Mrs. Longoria was very adventurous. One day, she ran out of the house at the age of two looking for her Godmother. At the age of three, she was saved by her father from drowning in a beach named Manzanillo. Her father, Loran De Belle, was a sergeant in the Marines. He was very strict, and usually spanked her if she misbehaved. Her mother was also strict, but always wanted her to do her best in everything she did. Both of her parents would teach her how to work and work hard. She still remembers how her parents would scare her by saying “If I catch you stealing, I AM GOING TO CHOP YOUR HANDS OFF!!” Of course they never would do it, but that helped Sonia learn not to do wrong.

In 1969, Mrs. Longoria and her family moved to the United States. As soon as they crossed the border, her father told all the children that there would be no more speaking Spanish. Even though her dad was Anglo, he never taught them any English when they lived in Mexico. They moved to a small town in Texas named Zapata where the school was good because most of the students talked Spanish. There Sonia was fine. But when she moved to McAllen everything changed. First the school moved her back a grade from where she was supposed to be. In McAllen all lessons in school were in English. Whenever she talked in Spanish, they would spank her and call her parents. As soon as she got home, her dad would spank her for getting in trouble in school. The teacher would not even let her go to the restrooms because she would ask to go in Spanish. Even though she was an American citizen since birth, she felt that in United States teachers didn’t care about her students. She hated her school so much that one day she decided not to stand for the pledge. She said “I don’t like this flag; I like the Mexican flag better!” Guess what happened next, they spanked her and called her parents. Of course her parents spanked her too. She regrets not speaking English sooner, but maybe if teachers would have been more understanding, she would have liked school back then.

Mrs. Longoria now works at a school named Leal Elementary as an E.L.P teacher. She has helped lots of children in school. She has also helped homeless people by donating money or food. Mrs. Longoria also helps the school with parties. Some interesting facts of Mrs. Longoria are that she and her husband saved three men from drowning in the ocean. She also knows my family, was teacher of the year for Wal-Mart, and twice for the Mission CISD district. She was also a reporter for Univision and El Periodico.

Mrs. Longoria is a good person. She has done lots of good things and is a good E.L.P. teacher. That is why she is my hero. I hope Mrs. Longoria is your hero too.