Silvia Patricia Pacheco

Martinez Adult Education

Nominated in 2019

Silvia Patricia Pacheco, also known as Patty, came to the United States from Guatemala in 2013 with two small children and very limited English. In just five short years, she has benefited from the education of all three program areas at Martinez Adult Education and reached all of her goals. She truly embodies the mission of MAE.

Patty began her studies at MAE in Beginning ESL classes. Through hard work and grit, she mastered all the levels and earned an Advanced ESL certificate. She also enrolled in ABE, and eventually earned her GED. She then took classes in the Business Training Center in QuickBooks, Excel, Word, Payroll, Accounting and other courses that allowed her to earn the Accounting Technician and Bookkeeper certification in May 2019.

As if this were not enough, Patty took Citizenship Preparation classes at night and became a U.S. citizen in September 2017. All the while, she has been actively involved in the education of her two school-aged daughters, volunteering at school and taking great pleasure in sharing all that she has learned with them.

In addition, she served on the ESL Student Council and other school wide committees.

To make this journey of success come full circle, Patricia has recently been offered a job at MAE where she is able to use all of the skills she has acquired. She greatly appreciates the staff “at her second home” who have guided and helped her each step of the way towards her dreams. She knows she is in part the product and the proof of the wonderful services offered by Martinez Adult Education. She is dedicated to working with both staff and students to give back to the school that has given her so much.