By Juanita Quiñones Gándara
My name is Juanita and I am proud to say that I was born in Juarez Chihuahua, Mexico and raised in El Paso, Tx! I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I thank my parents for the many great sacrifices they made to ensure that my siblings and I, became legal residents, to be able to live the “American Dream!” It was my parent’s hope for us all to achieve! I graduated from college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Bilingual Education from the University of Texas at El Paso and obtained a Master’s Degree from Sul Ross University in Alpine, TX. I served as a bilingual teacher for 10 years and 20 years as a school counselor!
Today, I am a children’s book author, educational consultant, a founder of an SEL (Social Emotional Learning) Anti-bullying program named, “Zoila’s Words of Wisdom,” a performance arts style speech motivator and owner of my new business, Zoila the Zebra, LLC.
I have mentioned to many that my story is a “miracle story,” During my last year as an educator, I always told my colleagues, family and friends that I didn’t feel that I wanted to retire to retire, but only needed to change the channel! I really didn’t know what I was going to do but all I know is that my prayer was answered. I have always been a person of faith and always asked God to guide me and whisper in my ear what he wanted me to do. Well, he answered me loud and clear! He opened a new door, then closed it, opened another door and closed that one too and only to find out that he was preparing me for something bigger and much better! In other words, he revealed his purpose, not mine. An author to start and now where I am! So, I always kid around with people I meet and tell them to be very careful what they ask for because he will give it to them attached with much more!
He revealed through my last closed door, that I still had lots of fire in me that needed to be lit with a spark to help make this world brighter. Do you believe in the saying that we meet people for a reason, a season or a lifetime? Well my last closed door was indeed for a reason! It was to change my life into a totally different direction and for such a great purpose! My mission in life now, is to empower, educate and encourage others while helping change a very negative situation on bullying into a more positive one.
My book “Zoila the Zebra’s WOW (Words of Wisdom), allows me to do this by providing virtual author visits, presentations using puppets and Latin music, and performances Spanish poems to introduce my SEL Anti-bullying program “Zoila’s Words of Wisdom”.
Anti-bullying has always been one of my true passions and some fond memories include students referring to me as their “Bully Buster Counselor” in the privacy of own my office. I would often hear them say in the cafeteria, “Go to Ms. Gandara, she’ll help you!”
After retiring, I truly missed the students and often thought about them. Through my miracle story, I found myself being challenged to write a book by my amazing co-author, Mark Bowles, PhD. It was then that I started brainstorming on what I wanted my book to be about and what I wanted to share with the world! It was those many heartfelt sad stories and student outcries that led me to create a short, simple, to the point Anti-bullying program that could be followed by educators, students, parents and the community. This is how my business, Zoila the Zebra, LLC came to be!
How many of you know of someone or maybe yourself, going through some type of bullying in some way, shape or form? I challenge each and every one of you to take a leap of faith and follow your true passion and dream while joining us in this battle against bullying!
