Every year the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) honors seven outstanding educators from across the nation. This year two of them are from Southwestern College.
Dr. Sylvia Garcia-Navarrete received the Outstanding Latino(a) Faculty in Higher Education Award and Governing Board Member Norma Hernandez was presented the Alfredo G. de los Santos Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education Award.
Both women were honored at the AAHHE convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Garcia-Navarrete was recognized for her innovative work developing critical thinking curriculum for English learners. Our Reading Toolbox has been emulated across America and Garcia-Navarrete has traveled the nation sharing its secrets.
She began her journey at SWC as a student worker in 1983 and earned an AA while working as a classified employee. After earning a BA and a Master’s at San Diego State University, she became a full-time tenure-track assistant professor. She later earned her doctoral degree in educational leadership from SDSU.
She has twice been named SWC’s outstanding adjunct instructor and is a two-time National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) teaching medalist.
Garcia-Navarrete said she is the only one out of her eight siblings to earn a college education, and was actively discouraged from going to college.
As a child she was a challenged student and people in her southeast San Diego neighborhood predicted she would be “barefoot, pregnant and on welfare,” she said. She proved them wrong.
Dr. Joel Levine, dean of School of Language and Literature, said Garcia-Navarrete runs her classrooms in a different way.
“She sets new heights to help students realize their potential,” he said. “If you see her classes you’d realize that her students are becoming incredibly aware of the abilities they have that they may not have realized they have. She shows them how well they can think and how well they can express their thoughts about what they understand.”
Hernandez was an idealistic community activist when she started at SWC in 1975. She served as MEChA advisor, developed career counseling services, and established the first Career Center and Transfer Center at SWC. She also implemented a Summer Readiness Program for high-risk groups entering high school.
Hernandez rose through the ranks and served as dean of student services, vice-president for student affairs, and then president. She is considered by many to be one of SWC’s best presidents. In 2010 she was elected to serve on the SWC Governing Board, and played a leadership role in ending the culture of corruption and restoring the college’s credibility following the disastrous reign of former superintendent Raj Kumar Chopra.
Governing Board President Humberto Peraza said Hernandez “absolutely deserves this award.”
“She has been a champion for education for a long time,” he said. “I am very proud of the work she’s done in the community. She is somebody who I look up to and has been a mentor of mine on the governing board.”
Hernandez said she enjoyed the convention in San Antonio.
“The experience at AAHHE’s Awards Ceremony was very meaningful because it reaffirmed the importance of finding one’s niche and passion in life,” she said. “For me, it has been Southwestern College and working alongside so many outstanding faculty, staff, administrators and community members to provide the best education that our students deserve.”
Founding President of AAHHE Loui Olivas said Hernandez and Garcia-Navarrete met the highest qualifications for each award.
“They both received awards because they have done outstanding work in the Hispanic community for the past decade,” he said. “Both were recognized as stellar leaders.”
