Crystal McCown Perez This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Tyler Morning Telegraph - TISD PRINCIPAL BECOMES NATURALIZED U.S. CITIZEN

   www.tylerpaper.com/site/news.c - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/14/2006   Last Visited: 9/15/2006

   There were things about life in the U.S. that did not appeal to Perez at first. "I had never tried peanut butter before and it took me about 10 years to like it, but now I do," he said with a chuckle. "I did not have a taste for country music when I got here and now I love it. Things like that you get used to and you learn to enjoy."
   
   Perez has returned to Uruguay nine or 10 times for visits, has fond memories of his homeland and misses his extended family, but said he is established in the U.S. and has no plans to return to stay.
   
   Despite having a "green card" (permanent resident card) and work permit, last November Perez began the application process for citizenship - filled out forms, paid about $600 in fees, underwent an interview in Dallas and fingerprinting, took a civics and history test, provided documentation such as his bank and tax records, marriage license and children's birth certificates.
   
   Raised in an agricultural community about 15 miles north of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, Perez said it was always his dream to come to the U.S. to study at Ambassador University in Big Sandy, an institution sponsored by the Church of God which Perez attends. He also always wanted to be a biology or history teacher.
   
   But instead, Perez began working in a winery at a young age to support and take care of younger siblings when his parents separated.
   
   Perez had several positions - did some sales, then was in charge of the warehouse and worked his way up to purchasing manager. "The company was taking baby steps in the wine industry, but it became a very successful winery a few years after I left and it now does business in many countries around the world," Perez said.
   
   After 11 years with the winery, Perez said, "finally I was accepted at Ambassador University in 1991." Perez came to the U.S. at the age of 26, enrolled in Ambassador and four years later received a bachelor's degree in liberal studies in 1995, with a double major in history/archaeology.
   
   He spent the next year doing history and archaeology work at Southern Methodist University, but his earlier interest in teaching revived.
   
   With an emergency permit, Perez launched his education career in 1996 as a bilingual teacher at Austin Elementary. In the meantime, he spent three years studying at The University of Texas at Tyler for a teaching certificate.
   
   "I saw the opportunities in bilingual education and I was lucky to meet Janet Trump, the bilingual director (for Tyler Independent School District) back then," Perez said. "She was a good mentor and pointed me in the right direction. I quickly fell in love with bilingual education and education as a whole."
   
   He taught bilingual education a year at Austin, three years at Griffin Elementary and two years in Tyler ISD's districtwide program for gifted elementary students. Having earned a master's degree in educational administration from Texas A&M University, Perez moved into administration as assistant principal back at Austin in about 2001, where he is beginning his fifth year.