Dallas ISD first grader’s wish to become a teacher comes true
Seven-year-old Cindy Gonzalez Gomez received a star’s welcome, complete with limo ride, cheering crowd and a throng of news photographers, upon her arrival Friday morning at Pershing Elementary School in Northwest Dallas.
Cindy’s wish to be a teacher was granted by Make-A-Wish North Texas with help from Macy’s Believe campaign. She’s being treated for leukemia and is in first grade at Pershing.
She arrived to a scene that resembled a school welcoming home the award-winning football team. Students lined both sides of the street in front of the school and cheered her arrival.
Some chanted her name and held poster boards with encouraging messages, such as “Fight like a girl.” Balloons in royal blue and white, the school’s colors, could be seen throughout the crowd. The Hillcrest High School band played in the background as cheer squads from Hillcrest performed.
Cindy emerged from the limousine wearing a tiara and holding her mother’s hand. She shyly took in her surroundings before being escorted in the school by her parents, Angela Gomez and Jose Gonzalez.
Dallas ISD board member Elizabeth Jones welcomed her with a mock teacher certificate. She received her employee badge, trimmed in pink bling, and was hailed as a new teacher at Pershing Elementary. She also was presented with art supplies and an easel. DISD human resources chief Carmen Darville was on hand to make it all official.
Jones, who is being treated for breast cancer, called Cindy her hero.
“You’re brave, and you can do it,” Jones told her. “We’re going to fight that fight together.”
After retired DISD teacher Lana Sloan gave her some tips on running a classroom, Cindy was on her way to teach a prekindergarten art class. She still hadn’t said much, shyly taking it all in.
Gomez, her mother, said through a translator that it was an emotional day and her daughter is happy with everything. Cindy had a full schedule for Friday, complete with teaching lessons, checking her mailbox, eating lunch in the teacher’s lounge and helping out with dismissal at the end of the day.
Michelle Gutierrez, a Make-A-Wish manager who rode in the limo with the family, said that Cindy was in shock upon pulling up to the school. “Her mouth just dropped,” she said.
“Just seeing all the kids sitting outside, it was more emotional than I would have realized,” Gutierrez said. “I told her, this is your day.”
Cindy wore an apron and stood shyly in front of her first class. She showed off her art skills by drawing a flower and a sun. She smiled broadly when taking in her work.
She was more ready for her second class of kindergarten students. She walked around passing out school supplies before demonstrating how to trace. She didn’t say much, but giggled as she worked.
More information: One dollar will be donated to Make-A-Wish for each letter to Santa that Macy’s receives. To write a letter to Santa, click here.