11th anniversary book 114 FINAL online - Flipbook - Page 6
Message from the Founder and
President of the Board of Trustees
“From a Dream to a Reality”
Mr. Gil Bernardino
March 2020
Dear Students, Families, Staff, Community and Friends:
We decided to continue the tradition we started on our 10th Anniversary where we published a book that includes the
history of Evergreen, our students and staff. From now on this book will be published annually. We will add updates
each year to our history to showcase our significant accomplishments and events that occur. We will also feature all our
staff and students. It is important for all of us to know our history so we can learn from it.
I was born in a small agricultural town called Tapioles in the province of Zamora, Spain. My parents dreamed for the
future of their children and worked hard to ensure that their six children had a formal education. I became a teacher
and taught in Madrid for over seven years. In Madrid, I met Barbara Dubow, from Long Beach, NY, whom I married
in 1971. We lived in Spain until 1974. Earlier that year, Barbara’s father passed away at a very early age leaving a
young teenage son, Barbara’s brother. In June 1974, we came to New York to support the family, especially Barbara’s
youngest brother.
When I moved to the United States, my history changed completely. I planned to stay here for only one year - that has
now turned into forty-six! I studied French as a student in Madrid, therefore I now needed to learn English. I went back
to college and earned by Master’s Degree in Education at CW Post. I taught as a substitute in the Long Beach School
District for some time until I was able to get a permanent teaching job in District 17 in Brooklyn, New York.
During my first years of living in New York State, I discovered the many ills facing the Long Beach Hispanic Community
along with the racism against immigrant children in schools, the tragic dropout rate, where the majority of Hispanics
did not graduate, and many other inequities our community was facing. These inequities included, among others,
health care, housing, the exploitation of workers, and discriminatory practices. I taught GED courses to Hispanic adults
during my early years in the United States. Through this experience, I learned about those inequities I just mentioned.
In addition, my involvement with the community opened my eyes to the unfair treatment of Hispanics and immigrants,
in general, in our society.
As a result of these experiences, along with my own personal experience of being discriminated against, I decided to
leave teaching. In 1980, Círculo de la Hispanidad, an organization dedicated to supporting the Hispanic children and
youth in the Long Beach area, was born. In 1980, Barbara Dubow and Pat McCormack helped me with my dream to
establish Círculo de la Hispanidad. While Crculo was initially founded to support Hispanic youth, the organization
expanded over the years to offer over twenty programs serving anyone in need in Nassau County. Our mission is to
improve the lives of individuals and families through a continuum of social services, education, recreation, cultural,
economic development and social justice programs.
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