In October, CCHS faced a difficult loss. Betty Dávila, a Spanish teacher, passed away. Dávila taught Spanish 1 and AP Spanish Language and Culture. She had over 18 years of experience overall and had started working at CCHS in 2018.
According to her students and peers, she was kind-hearted, and provided help to whoever needed it. She touched the lives of students, co-workers and our community.
“She was an outstanding teacher… who cared very deeply about the success and well-being of each and every one of her students,” said Culver City Unified School District superintendent, Brian Lucas.
With the Día de los Muertos celebrations already in mind at the time of Dávila’s passing, altars were quickly set up in some classrooms to remember her. Classes celebrated her memory, setting up flowers, candles and clay figures, and sharing stories about Dávila.
To honor the teacher and the impact she made on the school, students gathered in the peace garden on October 24. A microphone was provided for speakers to share memories of Dávila, and there was an area set up to write to her family along with a memory board to sign. She leaves behind two children, Luke and Stella.
In a room down the hall from Maestra Dávila is Señor Jose Montero, who considers her a dear friend. His classroom altar is featured in the picture, and he has continued to update it in the weeks since Davilaś passing. He also shared touching memories of her after the loss.
“To talk about Maestra Davila I will have to focus on the friend and the difficulty to explain what real friendship is. When I try it, words lose their meaning, they hide in the dictionary because it is impossible for them to describe the experience of having a real friend,” Montero explains.
He believes nothing is a coincidence. “I know that all persons who cross our path come for a reason. We always have something to learn from each and every one of them,” he states.
“There are special people in our lives who never leave us, even after they are gone.” For him, she was a friend, a wonderful one at that. In appreciation of her, Montero wrote a beautiful poem.
I could write about your affection, empathy, tolerance, understanding, kindness, support…
But they cannot portray you.
I could write about your love of teaching, for your students, of your deep knowledge of the difficulties of the teen years, of your certainty that teaching is a holistic process whose main goal is to help human beings to be better persons…
But they cannot portray you.
I could write about the beautiful picture of the Mother that honors our altar …
But it doesn’t show who you really are, they are rough brushstrokes that color your portrait…
But they aren’t you!
How can we paint the soul?
If I would write your epitaph, I would carve with golden letters:
The beauty of enjoying life
Betty Dávila was more than a teacher. She was a mother, a friend, an ally and companion. It is sad to see her go, but the impact she left on the school will be forever remembered.
Poem in Spanish:
A la maestra Davila
Podría escribir sobre tu cariño, tu empatía, tu comprensión, tolerancia, amabilidad, apoyo…
Pero nada de eso consigue retratarte.
Podría escribir de tu amor por la enseñanza, por los estudiantes, de tu profundo conocimiento de las dificultades de la adolescencia, de tu convencimiento de que la enseñanza es un proceso holístico cuyo objetivo es ayudarnos a ser mejores personas…
Pero nada de eso consigue retratarte.
Podría escribir sobre la preciosa imagen de LA MADRE que preside nuestro altar…
Pero ni eso muestra la realidad de quien eres, son meros brochazos que colorean tu retrato…
Pero ¡no son tú!
¿Cómo se puede pintar el alma?
Si tuviera que escribir un epitafio, esculpiría tu nombre con letras de oro y la leyenda:
La belleza de disfrutar la vida
