Profiles A Magnetic Teacher for a Magnet School

When Ronni Lopez served out her sentence as a student teacher she thought, “Never again.” Dull, regimented public schools did not meet her expectations.

Sure, she’d get her teaching credentials. But the certificate would be filed away for use only in a life or death emergency – when no garbage collection jobs were available, for instance.

But now the drama teacher’s attitude has changed radically. The Dallas public school system’s Creative Arts Academy is the reason. It is one of four magnet high schools created last August to bring about better integration of students and provide more practical knowledge of the arts and career opportunities in them.

Ronni, a 26-year-old Mexican-American from San Antonio and the first college graduate in her family, has discovered the new system works as well for her as for the students.

During two years as a roving theater artist-in-residence for the Texas Arts and Humanities Commission, she encountered what might be called race resistance from some parents and teachers in schools she served. “I got bad vibes from some. I think they questioned my ability as a teacher because of my heritage. I put my hair in braids and wore ponchos and serapes.

“And when I was in Palestine [Texas] the atmosphere was chilly. I’m very sensitive to subtleties, and there the teachers talked about students in terms of race. I heard one teacher discuss a discipline problem. She said something like ’I don’t know why that girl’s like that – she’s white.’ “

One of the major accomplishments of the academy, in Ronni’s estimation, is improved race relations. Odds were in favor of it from the first, she says, because the approximately 700 students and teachers are black, white, Mexican-American and Asian, all working together in the more liberal educational environment of the academy.

Ronni often refers to “the wonderful thread that runs through the entire school. Here the mixture of races is so diverse no one can be standoffish for long. I know I find my heritage an asset. So many teachers here have said they would have loved this program when they were in high school.

“We’re interested in the process of how kids learn. They are graded on participation and attitude. You can’t grade talent. When I was in school teachers were interested only in the end product . . . like a term paper or final exam. All the kids here get to try things like art and dance, which, before now, maybe only the whites would have been exposed to. The concentration here is on self-expression.”

Ronni recently wrote her mother, explaining the new school’s emphasis. “If I had had this program in high school, I wonder where I’d be today? No, I know where I’d be. I’d probably be here any-way. I’d want to share in this freedomof expression.”