Jose Vera

Hacienda La Puente Adult Education

Jose Vera came to Hacienda La Puente Adult Education to enroll in the English as a Second Language classes in 1970. Jose did not realize what an impact the school would have in his life.

Jose attended ESL with Miss Dianne Guido (now Pun?Kay) at Proctor and with Mr. Dorr and Mr. Wiener at Hudson, the first district owned facility made available to Our adult education programs After completing beginning, intermediate and advanced ESL, Jose registered in Adult Basic Education to prepare for the GED Exam. During one of the many social activities sponsored by the school Jose met Lourdes Avendano. Lourdes and Jose fell in love and married on December 15, 1973.

Jose Vera enrolled in the Upholstery training program with Henry De Lao. It was a yearlong program to prepare individuals to do all the facets of furniture construction, remodeling and upholstering and to organize and create a business plan.

Jose and Lourdes Vera were able to open their own upholstery shop in 1979. Amar Uphostery is a successful small business with three employees in addition to Jose and Lourdes.

Their involvement with HLPAE did not end there. Both Jose and Lourdes attended Citizenship preparation classes in 1989 and are now proud US Citizens. At the present time they might not attend classes but Jose and Lourdes come to Willow Center to vote in the elections.