In Cornella VerHalen’s American life, the end is just another beginning.
VerHalen celebrated her 90th birthday in a classroom at the Tri-Community Adult Education/Pioneer Center in Covina. The longtime Covina resident has taught English as a Second Language and sewing at Covina Valley Unified School District for more than 50 years. Before she retires at the end of this semester, fellow educators and students are honoring her work enriching the lives of newly-arrived immigrants.
“I’ve had a very interesting life and met so many interesting people. Really, I just love to teach and be active,” VerHalen said. “I began teaching ESL in 1975 when it was a new thing. As a result, I have a much different approach to teaching it. I developed my own system that allowed me to really engage with my students.”
VerHalen’s teaching career began when Richard Nixon was president, “Marcus Welby M.D.” was the top-rated television program and the Jackson 5 were just starting to top the charts. By then, VerHalen was married with four sons. She had a credential in sewing, learning the craft from a designer trained in Paris, when she first volunteered at Tri-Community in 1970. After mastering the “stretch and sew” technique, she found herself teaching eight classes a week, with many students on a waiting list.
In 1974, a colleague who taught ESL brought students into VerHalen’s sewing class. VerHalen discovered that the art of sewing fit well with learning a new language, the hands-on activity providing an opportunity to discuss the sewing process step-by-step. Within the year, VerHalen was teaching ESL to scores of Vietnamese immigrants. Not content to teach exclusively from a book, VerHalen began organizing field trips throughout Southern California to give her students exposure to English in a variety of settings.
VerHalen’s classes became very popular, with students studying so intently that they did not notice when class had ended. Eventually, she began hosting Tri-Community students at her home, where they would read, sew, eat and bond. Many of VerHalen’s students, who hail from all over the world, have become part of her extended family.
“Cornella’s story really is incredible,” said Ryan Maddox principal at Pioneer Center. “She has an amazing heart for teaching and helping her students along their path to learning and improving their English. She openly gives her free time to tutor and help any student who is willing to take the time to learn. When I think of all the students she has impacted over 52 years of teaching, it is inspiring.”
One of those students is Somchai Vongpiansuksa. He was a 23-year-old ESL student from Thailand when VerHalen befriended him and invited him to live at her house while he studied. Vongpiansuksa stayed for seven years before moving away and starting his own family. Today, he owns the popular Palms Thai restaurant in Hollywood. The two families are so close that they celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas at VerHalen’s home, and all his children refer to her as “grandma.”
“I was very young when I met Cornella,” Vongpiansuksa said. “I asked her for help and she was very supportive. From then on, I went to school and she became like my stepmother. Sometimes we would argue a lot because she is very strict. But she is a teacher and a mother and our families have become very close over the years. She has taught me so much.”
VerHalen was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Her family moved in 1946 to California. She was an overachiever in school, attending St. Thomas Aquinas School in Monterey Park and St. Andrew’s in Pasadena before earning a scholarship to Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. She married and raised her family in Kansas until she and her husband separated. VerHalen moved back to California, attending Mount San Antonio College in Walnut and Cal State Fullerton.
She was 45 and a mother, kept a 4.0 GPA, and took the SAT with the South Hills High School seniors, said Devina Ortega, district public information officer. VerHalen later graduated from Pitzer College in Claremont. She and her sons lived in the home they bought in 1958, when orange trees still dotted the neighborhood.
Though VerHalen is retiring from Pioneer Center, she said she will continue to keep her door open for students who wish to bolster their English, sewing and communication skills. Students know they can drop by Mondays and Wednesdays for a visit.
One future student may be Elizabeth Eminhizer, superintendent of the Covina-Valley Unified School District, who said she would be honored if VerHalen could teach her to sew.
“Cornella VerHalen is part of the heart and soul of Covina-Valley Unified, a beloved educator who has dedicated her life to helping others,” Eminhizer said. “What amazes me the most about Cornella is her boundless energy and quest for knowledge. She may be retiring from the district, but she will be a teacher, friend and role model forever.”
Anissa V. Rivera, columnist, “Mom’s the Word,” Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Whittier Daily News, Azusa Herald, Glendora Press and West Covina Highlander, San Dimas/La Verne Highlander. Southern California News Group, 181 W. Huntington Drive, Suite 209 Monrovia, CA 91016. .
