Teacher inspires student after her unexpected pregnancy
Yvette Luna said one teacher gave her the skills she needed to be successful.
— -- After Yvette Luna discovered she was pregnant in high school, she transferred to Keys Academy in Harlingen, Texas, where her parents hoped the small student-teacher ratio would help Luna stay on track to graduate.
Years later, she thanked her math teacher, Juan Antonio Fraga, 66, for giving her “the skills that I needed to be successful.”
“Keys [Academy] is not just about economics. It’s about people who are helping people, building up relationships. The job sometimes is not that easy because a lot of students might not be initially focused as to what they want to do,” said Fraga.
Luna, 31, said Fraga taught her skills that went far beyond basic equations.
“I want to say thank you for always believing in me when things were tough. There was times when I didn’t believe in myself, and you believed in me. You allowed me to go further my education and I thank you for that,” she said.
Yvette now teaches fourth grade at a local elementary school. In 2017, Fraga and his former student both received “Teacher of the Year” awards from their respective schools.
“I love my students, I care about them. Those are the qualities that I got from Mr. Fraga that I take into my classroom,” said Luna.