Irene Villacrés: An artistic love for education

We have the honor to present Irene Villacrés as the figure of the month. During the interview, she told us about her arrival in the U. E. P. "La Dolorosa" and how it has influenced her life. Irene has been teaching for a long time and this experience has allowed her to meet several generations of students and grow as a person.

Ten years ago, Irene decided to join the school as a teacher, the first impression she had when she joined "La Dolorosa" was the warmth and familiarity conveyed by each colleague and student. This environment captivated her and she fell in love with the school.

On a pedagogical level, Irene has noticed that the school has a traditional essence and there are several things that today require a change. Last year, there were the most significant changes regarding technology since teachers had to be trained on how to handle technological tools. The world is changing and therefore, teachers had to think of another way to educate and adapt to new circumstances.

As an interesting fact, Irene commented that she was the founder of the youth group "Serving is loving", which has been running at school since 2015. The beginning of this project was due to a group of students who had just made their confirmation and they wanted to keep contributing to the community and Irene was the one who helped drive that dream.

The school has left two very important marks in Irene's life. One of these is being able to meet again with God, upon entering school she was able to reconcile with the Lord, as she needed his presence to find herself and heal several wounds she carried inside, the second mark is the space that "La Dolorosa" gave her to exercise one of her passions which is theatre. From the first year she joined she launched the proposal to create this club and thanks to the support of the "Slaves of the Sacred Heart of Jesus" she succeeded.

There are several things that Irene lived in school and that in these circumstances she has begun to value more. The pandemic meant several things. One of them is to stop daily life and look at it from another perspective. Also, the pandemic gave us the chance to renew ourselves and adapt to what we have to live at the time. All of this served to rethink your life.

The most important values in Irene's life are love, solidarity, and gratitude because with love you can do everything, achieve empathy with others, love of God, and love for the people around us. Being able to spread solidarity with others is essential. It is good to give a hand to those who need it in return. Also, the value of appreciating life leads us to be pleasant people and always give thanks for what one has, no matter how minimal.

For Irene, December is a very nice month, taking away the negative aspect of consumerism. It is a space of family encounter and solidarity that gives us the opportunity to share with other people, to give what we have, and above all a time when we prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. It is a month when you give joy to those who need it most, with that desire to be able to serve others.

In conclusion, the message Irene shared with all her students is to look for time every day, living the present with energy and desire because the future is uncertain, and from that point on to live as if there is no tomorrow with joy and doing things right since we woke up. Irene invites us to create our dreams and then project them, without settling for little and fighting every day for what we want.

Written by

Kelly Gallo and Joselyn Vinueza

Senior Year C