Bolivia Native Wins Democrats' Backing
By Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 16, 2008
In Bolivia last month on business, Diego Arias of Arlington County picked up a newspaper and stopped at a familiar face. Prominently placed on the third page, in a section separating winners from losers, was a photograph of Emma Violand-Sanchez.
Somehow the landlocked South American nation that Violand-Sanchez left as a teenager more than four decades ago not only knew about her victory in a party caucus to endorse Arlington School Board candidates but also considered the development newsworthy.
"It's amazing," Laura Anduze said, looking at a copy of the newspaper her husband, Arias, brought home. "She must have a lot of people who believe in her."
The Democratic caucus, held last month to make endorsements for two School Board seats at stake in the fall election, had a record turnout, and Violand-Sanchez received more votes than the five other candidates, including an incumbent, who placed second.
The five-member board is nonpartisan. But the caucus victory virtually guarantees Violand-Sanchez a four-year term because the county electorate is overwhelmingly Democratic and because she and runner-up Libby Garvey were the only candidates to file by Tuesday's deadline.
And so the November election in all likelihood will make official what is already being celebrated as a milestone: the first election of a Latina to a board that oversees a well-regarded 18,700-student school system.
"Make no mistake about it: This is a tremendous, positive message," County Board Chairman J. Walter Tejada (D) said, "not just to Arlington, but to the region as well."
The victory for Violand-Sanchez comes as a crackdown on illegal immigration in nearby Prince William County has gained national attention and federal immigration agents have been raiding businesses locally and across the country.
In contrast, the Arlington County Board unanimously passed a resolution last year welcoming immigrants.
"The folks who are creating a divisive tone to immigrants are focusing on negative aspects," said Tejada, a native of El Salvador. Violand-Sanchez, he added, "is an example of the American success story."
Violand-Sanchez was 16 when an aunt brought her to Virginia to live with a Fairfax County family and work as its nanny. Knowing little English, she went from being a top student in her hometown school to questioning her intelligence at Mount Vernon High School.
"I became so small, so inadequate," recalled Violand-Sanchez, 63.
She said she envisions schools that foster global awareness and view bilingualism as an economic and social asset. Parents are increasingly pushing for their children to learn a second language, she said, and many of Arlington's students grow up speaking a language other than English at home. Arlington's students come from 127 countries and speak 105 languages.
"Instead of looking at these students, like in Prince William, as problems, let's see them as students of the world," Violand-Sanchez said.
She said her caucus win has excited the immigrant community. "They know that I care about them. They know that I understand the difficulties that they face."
In 30 years as a teacher and administrator in the county, Violand-Sanchez established the first bilingual General Educational Development program in the state and helped open Escuela Bolivia, a weekend school that offers language and culture classes. Now retired from the school system, she is an adjunct professor for Georgetown University's Department of Linguistics. She received bachelor's and master's degrees from Radford University and a doctorate from George Washington University.
Felix A. Herrera was 16 and far from his parents in El Salvador when he met Violand-Sanchez in Arlington. She was the supervisor of the English for Speakers of Other Languages program at the time and took on the roles of mother and mentor, he said. He credits her with inspiring him to obtain bachelor's and master's degrees from George Mason University and then to teach at Wakefield High School.
"Everybody is busy trying to portray illegal immigration as the evil that is destroying our society," said Herrera, 36, who is also an Army reservist and an Arlington Democratic activist. "Some of us fortunately find people like Ms. Emma who take us under their wing and see our potential and help us."
Violand-Sanchez drew Latino support at the caucus, but that was not the decisive factor, said Peter Rousselot, Arlington Democratic Committee chairman. "She won because she got support from non-Latinos," he said.
Of 4,225 voters who caucused to endorse two candidates, Violand-Sanchez drew support from 2,548. That exceeded the total number of voters, 1,837, who appeared at a caucus the year before. Garvey received 2,464 votes. No other candidate broke 1,000.
Andres Tobar, Violand-Sanchez's campaign manager, said her supporters included teachers, retired principals and parents of all backgrounds.
"We knew all of Arlington had to embrace her in order for her to win, and they did," he said.
Bill Delaney, whose children are in first and third grades at Arlington Traditional School, said he and other parents invited the six candidates to speak to them. In the end, he backed Violand-Sanchez.
"I really got the sense from Emma that she is somebody who has good judgment," he said. "I haven't seen her in action yet, but I think she is always going to do what is best for the kids, and that's all you can ask from a School Board member."
"The fact that Emma was Latina," he added, "was just kind of a bonus for us."
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