Story by Carmen Duarte

Photo by Jill Torrance

Arizona Daily Star

August 7, 2009

PHOTO: From left, sisters Edith Corrales, Annette Corrales-López and Cynthia Corrales-Díaz all teach at Liberty Elementary School and plan lessons together through the year.

TUCSON - Edith Corrales and her two sisters — Cynthia Corrales-Díaz and Annette Corrales-López — bounce reading, writing and science lessons off of one another.

They conduct research to come up with top lesson plans to excite children about learning.

The sisters are teachers who share their experiences among themselves and fellow faculty members at Liberty Elementary School, in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

On Thursday, some 700 students were welcomed to Liberty, 5495 S. Liberty Ave., on the district's first day of school.

The sisters, who are Desert View High School and University of Arizona graduates, are veteran teachers, and their combined experience adds up to 41 years in the classroom. They all majored in bilingual education and say they enjoy preparing and helping form students into future leaders and college graduates with the help of the children's families.

"Three heads are better than one," quipped Edith last week as the sisters helped one another ready their rooms for pupils.

Annette's third-grade classroom displays weather and geology materials on bulletin boards. Edith has an inflatable sun, snowflake and cloud hanging from the ceiling of her second-grade classroom. And Cynthia's third-grade classroom décor is colorful dots mingled with vocabulary words and science displays about water and its importance to the desert.

Edith, 35, who was selected a 2008 Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona Exemplary Teacher, is in her 14th year teaching, with four at Liberty.

"Since I was young, I wanted to be a teacher. I had great teachers in this district, and they were very supportive. Many of them are still here," said Edith, who grew up in the district's south-side community.

"I am first-generation Mexican-American, and I identify with so many of the students. When I see their little faces, I see myself," she said. She recalls her parents, Guadalupe Isaac Corrales, 64, and Elia C. Corrales, 65, reinforcing the importance of a college education while she was in elementary school.

"I find myself telling my students the same thing, and mentioning that their parents want better for them," Edith said. She said her father, a retired linotypist at a print shop, and her mother, a former food processor for a pecan company, didn't have the opportunity to go to college. The couple reared four children, and all attained a higher education.

Annette, 33, is in her 12th year at Liberty.

"My sisters influenced me to major in education, and I thought 'Why not?' since I like working with kids," she said. "Kids are the best. I like their smiles and seeing them figure out lessons. It feels so good when you know they get it, that they understand.

"When my sisters and I work together, we toss out our ideas and then we build on each of them," Annette said. The women say that Edith is the reading guru,

Cynthia is the writing guru and Annette is the science guru.

Once the ideas are developed, each sister tweaks them into her own teaching style.

Cynthia, 39, is in her 15th year teaching, with nine at Liberty. She worked in finance before returning to the UA and earning a second bachelor's, in bilingual education.

"Edith influenced me to become a teacher. I was good in the finance world, but I didn't like being in an office for eight hours every day.

"As a teacher, I can challenge children and teach them using technology. I want to make lessons more relevant to them and make them think."

Contact reporter Carmen Duarte at cduarte@azstarnet.com or at 573-4104.