Spanish teacher in Alexandria schools dies as car rolls over her in driveway

A 71-year old Spanish teacher in the Alexandria city schools was killed by her car Friday as she was apparently leaving for work, authorities said.

Fairfax County police said Emma A. Cabrera, of Charles Hawkins Way in the Annandale area, was killed about 5:30 a.m. after backing out of her driveway.

Police said she apparently got out of the car, which then rolled over her.

Cabrera, who came to the United States from Cuba, had taught for a dozen years at the Minnie Howard Campus of T.C. Williams High School. Minnie Howard provides 9th-grade instruction for T.C. Williams students.

Cabrera taught in a way students and community members "really loved and appreciated," said William Clendaniel, T.C. Williams's principal.

"Her classroom was really her identity," said Mark Eisenhour, a T.C. Williams administrator. It was decorated to offer cultural immersion, making students feel they were in a Spanish-speaking country.

According to Eisenhour, Cabrera was an enthusiastic world traveler, who went often to Cuba to visit her mother.

Cabrera had grown children and five grandchildren who live in the Washington area, Eisenhour said.