MPS bilingual education teacher retires

Lamelas helped boost program

When Marta Lamelas started working at the Milwaukee Public Schools bilingual education program, it was a new and somewhat foreign concept.

“We had nothing,” she said. “We hardly had any books in Spanish, so we had to create — to cut and paste and make things. There was no (bilingual) support personnel, so we were counselors and teachers. We had to do it all.”

Since those early days, the program has grown to 5,000 students and 230 teachers, and Lamelas played a big role in shaping that growth. Now, after spending 30 of her 31 years at MPS in the bilingual program, Lamelas has retired from her job as curriculum specialist, running the day to day operations of the program.

About 250 turned out for the retirement bash friends and colleagues staged for her last month at the Hilton Hotel.

“She’s been a mentor to so many of us teachers,” said Rosana Beneshek, now assistant principal at Riverside High School. “She’s recruited teachers from Mexico and Puerto Rico and helped them get certified.”

“She has a vast wealth of knowledge and experience, in addition to a passion for bilingual education, the education of children and people’s rights,” said Ivy Santiago-Covert, the director of the bilingual program. “She will be greatly missed.”

Lamelas’ desk was stacked with reports she had to submit to the state before she walked out the door on July 13.

A woman with a throaty voice and warm, ready smile, she’s always fashionably dressed, impeccably manicured, her mane of gray hair beautifully coiffed.

Born and raised in Cuba, Lamelas was jailed 14 months as a political prisoner for passing out anti-Castro propaganda after the 1961 Bay of Pigs fiasco. After her release, she married Gustavo and for a time they lived in Spain, before coming to Racine and then Milwaukee where they raised two sons, now living in Miami.

“I always wanted to be a teacher,” she said. In time, she became a counselor, then joined the bilingual program as a teacher and then administrator.

“In this job I feel I can make decisions that help children tremendously by finding good teachers and materials,” she said.

She started an internship program two years ago to get those with bachelor degrees certified to teach bilingual education after a year’s worth of training.

The two biggest challenges facing bilingual education are the shortage of teachers and a misunderstanding of bilingual education fueled by fear.

“The goal of bilingual education is to teach children English and maintain their Spanish language and culture,” she said. “I believe this country is big enough to allow all of that.”

Although she’s leaving MPS, she will work part time at the Milwaukee Teacher Education Center with bilingual teacher interns and do some consulting.



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