“They are my eternal children”: they graduated in 1974 and 47 years later they were reunited with their “lord”

It's November 2021 and 18 of your alumni are gathered around a long plank covered in a blue tablecloth. The table is set: there are empanadas of knife-cut meat washed down with red wine while the roast is finished. She is in the center: Elisa Fraguglia (84), better known as 'la Seño'.

“They are almost 60 years old, but they are my children and always will be,” says the retired teacher from the Carlos Norberto Vergara School, in the capital of Mendoza, moved. Despite the 53 years that have passed, nothing has changed. “They hug me, play and fight like they did when they were kids. Being with them is a blessing,” she says.

Children today are engineers, accountants, there are even teachers. They graduated in 1974. They met at the age of five and shared six years together. As something exceptional, during elementary school they had only one teacher. “The school was chosen to implement a pilot test of teaching, that is why we went through the grades together. What happened was unprecedented." she explains.

Although Elisa taught classes in all subjects (language, history, and geography), her strong point is mathematics. “My father was a professor of Economic Sciences, and my mother a teacher, just like my grandmother. I was born, and grew up with that marked vocation. That was the natural path,” she admits.

She studied and trained as a teacher at the Normal Tomás Godoy Cruz. At 19 she began teaching. First in Tunuyán, then in Gutiérrez and finally she ended up practicing at the little school.

Beyond the unusual experience of staying in the same group, the “lady”, say her students, she had a special way of transmitting concepts. “In the classroom everything was a didactic game. It had a modern methodology for the time, we learned to make accounts in an agile way through colors. She also threw the blackboard eraser at us and they asked us how much 2 x 4 was, if you answered correctly you could pass it on to another classmate. We all wanted to receive the draft”, says Roberto Haart, today an industrial engineer and professor of Robotics at the University of Cuyo.

And he continues with everything he learned: “I brag about the good spelling for the word writing tests. He made us study the entire dictionary from A to Z. And nobody objected.”

He knew how to forge the link inside and outside the venue. “Everything was subject to study. When we had some weak subject she invited us to the house to have tea, we played and in the process we strengthened what we had not understood. That's the level of commitment and dedication he had. A teacher who served as a guide and role model... I owe her a lot” Thanks Robert.

He was also demanding. “He challenged us but with a smile. Or she gave us penances of those that invite you to reflect. Once I did something out of place, and she asked me to write 'I will not misbehave again' a hundred times in the notebook, and with the work it took me to do it, she discouraged me from sending me batons” , he adds.

For several years, on Saturdays he organized guided walks or tours of the city. “I took them out for a walk through the squares, churches, and museums. They were fascinated, and they didn't stop learning”, admits Elisa. "He had a lot of initiative."

When they graduated, Elisa was in charge of planning a trip as a farewell. She called her parents and they went 10 days to Cañón del Atuel, in San Rafael, Mendoza. "It was unforgettable". As a memory of her, she put together a photo album as a log recounting each adventure. She even keeps it in the desk at her house, the same one she had at school.

She not only treasures that, she remembers everyone's birthdays and never misses a single one. "She always calls us to wish us happiness," says Roberto.

Letting them go to high school was not an easy task. So great was the shock that in 1975 Elisa had to request a psychiatric license. "Not having them in the classroom anymore was a hard blow" she remembers. “The first day of school, when I saw the new faces, I fainted. I was hospitalized, and I was diagnosed with depression. I had to elaborate the duel” , she says. That was the only time she was without teaching.

An award for vocation

10 years ago the group, which broke up in high school, resumed the link through Whatsapp under the name Escuela Vergara. "There is a lot of participation, and since then the meetings are more frequent, although several go to visit her at home," explains Roberto.

The one of the past 20 was special. A kind of prize. A tribute. The students are about to turn six decades old. Elisa, close to 85. “There are no words to express so much emotion. I didn't do much in this life, but what I was able to achieve I think I did very well." says the teacher.

She full, proud and in the spirit of revaluing the relationship between teachers and students, she assures that she did not have "favorites, because each one is unique." In fact, she remembers those who are no longer there, like the paraglider Francisco Vargas, or Roberto Berro. She mentions them and tears come to her eyes.

She today she is dedicated to accompanying others from spirituality. She is away from teaching. She has only one wish: "I hope that many teachers have the same joy that I had and have with my children."

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