HISD | Employee News: HISD’s news for district employees

In this week’s I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, we talk to Patrick LaPadula and his son, Luke, about what it’s been like working together at The Rice School, how they came to be serving at the same campus, and who else in their family might be destined for a life in education.

Let’s start with how to pronounce your last name, since I clearly got it wrong. Is that a Spanish surname?

Patrick: No, it’s Italian. And it’s pronounced “LAP-a-DOO-la.”

Fair enough. Patrick, you’re an instructional specialist at The Rice School and your son, Luke, is a teacher there. What’s it been like for you both working together?

The LaPadulas, L-R: Patrick, Luke, Rose, and Olivia

Patrick: Well, he comes in the afternoon right before school ends and does carpool duty while I’m with the buses, so we kind of pass in the night. But we see each other briefly and I borrowed a dollar from him yesterday.

Luke: I worked with my mother quite often in her kindergarten class, so it wasn’t really that much of a transition. I go wherever the after-school program needs me, like helping the library with shelving books and checking them in, but if they need me to do other things, I just go help them as quickly as I can.

So your mother is a teacher, too? Is she the Rose LaPadula I saw in the global address book when I looked you both up?

Patrick: Yes. She’s my wife and Luke’s mother. She’s an English as a Second Language kindergarten teacher at West University Elementary School. She served at Rice, too, for three years a long time ago, but this will be her 24^th year at West U.

Wow. So you’ve got three educators in one family, and a father and son working at the same campus. That seems a bit unusual. Can you tell me how that arrangement came about?

Patrick: I work with the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students. He was hired as a lecturer for the after-school program. We had an opening, and he just applied and got it. But he’s only been working here since August. He just graduated from Bellaire High School and he’s going to college at the University of Houston to study engineering.

Oh, so it’s not like you always set out to be a teacher, then, Luke? Do you think you’ll remain in the teaching profession? What do you think are the odds that you’ll switch majors?

Luke: I don’t mind helping children, but I don’t really see myself working with them for the rest of my life. I’m studying mechanical engineering. And I just want to build things.

Patrick: He’ll tell you that I always thought he’d be a math or science teacher, but I think he’ll stick with engineering. The person I really think is going to be another educator is my daughter, Olivia, who’s a senior. Kids always go and hang with her and do school stuff. I think she’s always going to be a teacher at heart. She has it in her.

In this week’s I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, Class of 2010 member Victoria Herrera talks about why she chose to attend East Early College High School (EECHS), how her experiences there led her to a master’s degree at the age of 22, and what it was like to share her college graduation day with her mother, who completed a bachelor’s degree right alongside her.

I understand you were a member of EECHS’s first graduating class in 2010 and that you earned an associate’s degree along with your high school diploma. What was your experience like at EECHS? Was it more, less, or just as challenging as you expected it to be? What was your favorite thing about it?

I was challenged to the fullest of my ability at EECHS. The road to success and graduation was filled with obstacles, but EECHS continued to push me to greater and better things academically and personally. My favorite thing was the feeling of being in a college lecture with other college students, but also being the youngest person in the room. The best feeling was passing these courses and being able to achieve success with peers not only my age, but some 20 years older.

What spurred you to choose an early college high school in the first place, and why East in particular? Which high school were you actually zoned to attend?

I was zoned to attend Reagan High School, but I wanted more than the average high school experience. My parents took me to several campuses to tour, and initially, I chose to attend the campus at HCC Southwest near Post Oak. It was not until my mother started working at EECHS that I applied there. But I passed the interview process and made the toughest decision I had to make at the age of 14. Looking back now, I would not have done anything differently.

Your mother, Belinda, who serves as the school secretary at EECHS, returned to college at the same time you enrolled at the University of Houston to finish your bachelor’s degree. You both earned your diplomas on the same day. What was it like to graduate alongside your mother?

Victoria Herrera (standing) and her mother, Belinda, on their joint college graduation day

I could not have been more thankful to share that experience with her, and walk the stage the same day she did. It is a moment I will treasure throughout my life. It proved to me that it is never too late to achieve a dream, nor is it impossible to complete any desire in life.

Last month, you became the first EECHS student to earn a master’s degree in criminal justice (from the University of Houston-Downtown). What’s the next step for you?

I plan to public to provide aid in the needed areas of our criminal justice system.

According to your mother, your achievements would not have been possible without the great teachers and opportunities afforded you by HISD’s early college program. Would you agree with that statement?

I could not agree more. The early college program changed my life entirely! I am ahead of the average individual by 2.5 years, as I am 22 with a master’s degree. The professionals and staff within HISD have supported and made me who I am, both academically and motivationally.