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Story and photo from The Washington Post
Ana Reyes recalls that when she immigrated to the US in 1979 at the age of five, she felt "lost". She was unfamiliar with English, and began slipping behind in school.
She was adrift until she got an unexpected offer: Reyes’s first-grade teacher would arrive at school an hour early every morning for a one-on-one lesson to teach her English.
“That was life-changing,” said Reyes. “To this day, I don’t know how far behind I would have been if no one had done that.”
Reyes went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and now works as an attorney at Williams & Connolly, where she is the co-head of the international disputes practice group. In 2017, she was honored as the Woman Lawyer of the Year by the D.C. Women’s Bar Association. Much of Reyes’s work is pro bono, representing refugee organizations and challenging anti-asylum regulations.
Recently, after decades spent wanting to thank the teacher who, on her own time and out of the goodness of her heart, taught her English, Reyes finally had an opportunity to thank her. Reyes became determined to track down the teacher in October, after seeing a friend’s first-grade daughter read full sentences from a children’s book. The memories flooded back. Reyes became fixated on finding her teacher. She started by posting on Facebook, asking for advice about where to begin her search. Coincidentally, a friend from college knew Jason Glass, the commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education.
Reyes immediately wrote him an email, explaining that she was looking for her first-grade teacher from the 1980-81 school year at Wilder Elementary in Louisville.
To her disbelief and delight, the education department quickly determined that it was Pat Harkleroad — a Louisville educator of more than three decades — who had left an indelible mark on Reyes’s life. When Harkleroad, 77, received a call from the department, “I was floored,” she said. “For someone to remember you after 40 years, that is just phenomenal. When I heard Ana’s name, I recognized it. I remembered her."
Toni Konz Tatman, the chief communications officer at the Kentucky Department of Education, decided a reunion for the two women was in order.
“We know these kinds of connections happen every day in this country and around the world, with teachers and students. These are moments that should be celebrated and shared,” she said.
Konz Tatman corresponded with both women, and it was decided that Reyes would fly from D.C. to Kentucky (after testing negative for the coronavirus) to visit Harkleroad in November.
During their reunion, the two shared stories from the past several decades. Harkleroad presented Reyes with a children’s book about the power of education, coupled with a heartfelt letter, in which she expressed her pride and sincere gratitude that Reyes felt compelled to find her.
“I can’t say enough about Ana, and how much I admire her. I am so proud of her,” said Harkleroad, who retired from teaching in 2005 and pivoted to volunteering for a local nonprofit organization that serves adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. “I hope that if teachers read this, they know that somewhere along their teaching career, they have touched another person’s life, just like Ana,” she said.
Read more — and see the video — here!
