In her spare time she enjoys reading mysteries, baking, Sudoku, playing poker and Mahj Jong.

Most important to Bette is her family which is growing quickly and now includes her two grandsons and one granddaughter. Bette urges you to stop by her office so she can show you many pictures of her family along with the other love in her life, her cat Chloe.

hospitals as well as the United Cerebral Palsy program where she first learned about Adult Education.

After graduation, her decision to pursue a career in education took Lauryl back to UCLA where she obtained a Ryan Teaching Credential, which enables her to teach designated subjects in the humanities area, such as
English/Language Arts, Social Studies and even Gerontology.

While attending college and continuing for a decade, Lauryl was employed as a sales representative for Chanel, Calvin Klein and Giorgio. Her accounts included various upscale department stores in Beverly Hills and vicinity, where she was in charge of setting up and stocking fragrance department displays and monitoring product inventory.

Lauryl's teaching career began at Rinaldi Street Elementary, working with ESL students. She was eventually hired at the Kennedy/San Fernando High School Adult Education program to teach ESL courses in Advanced English and Citizenship. Rounding out her busy 14-hour-a-day schedule, Lauryl functioned as the activity director for the geriatric clientele at a sanitarium.

Armed with the wisdom of the (adolescent through older adult) ages, Lauryl began working at the Adult School in January 1996, initially as a Learning Center teacher, assisting Concurrent, Adult High School Diploma and GED students with their studies, which she did for 15 years. In addition, she has worked in the school's call center, fielding inquiries about our programs, courses and registration. There was nowhere to go but into a classroom teaching position, where Lauryl has worked educational magic within her four walls. Ongoing, she serves double-duty 2 nights a week administering CASAS testing and registering students.

"I absolutely love teaching and shaping my students' knowledge of the language and culture, opening up the world to them and seeing them blossom and broaden their understanding," says Lauryl, In her Citizenship course, she uses creative techniques, approaching the subject matter like a puzzle, using a historical timeline, along with musical elements. Looking at it objectively, she remarks "This is the type of class that I never had when I was in school, but wished I would've had." Teaching, as she describes it, is effortless and from which she derives much pleasure and gratification. In fact, she feels like she's entertaining her students, all of whom she describes as warm and wonderful. She won the jackpot of sorts when she was awarded the California Lottery's 2003 Exceptional Educator Award, which she received during the Big Spin.

Lauryl's husband Craig, who she met while attending UCLA, is in the advertising field, working for Nielsen Research's trade show division. Her daughter Mary Elizabeth, 10 and sons Christopher, 9 and Patrick, 7 attend school at St. Jude the Apostle.

Her love of genealogy has led Lauryl to tracing her family history and roots through Ancestry.com. She enjoys reading, especially mystery detective stories and anything history-related. Her being a big sports fan, she indulges in watching and cheering on her kids at their respective practices and games. Although Lauryl's a UCLA alum, she's a fan of watching and rooting for USC's football team, as various family members had attended that school. Entertaining is another favorite activity of hers, and she has a good time throwing parties. Around the winter holidays she spends a good deal of time and effort decorating more than a dozen themed Christmas trees with her collection of ornaments.

It is evident from Lauryl's full and varied life experiences that she pursues what comes her way with passion. She brings this enthusiasm, energy and creativity to her classroom, where she serves as an inspiration to her students and helps them along their own path to enlightenment.

education from Framingham College (the U.S.'s first teacher's college) in a program involving a special agreement between the two institutions.  While working on her degree in Guatemala, she taught high school English for 8 years.  The total-immersion experience of having lived and worked in a Spanish-speaking country really helped to solidify Laura's facility with the language. That and her educational preparation would be brought into play as she entered the teaching profession.

After returning to the states, Laura was hired by Los Cerritos Middle School, where for 2 years she taught ESL, English, Social Studies and remedial Reading.  Concurrently, she was teaching ESL at the Adult School for 6 years before she took a hiatus, returning in 1995 to continue her teaching career.  
    
In working with the students in her day and evening Level 4 Intermediate /High classes, Laura helps them to master their English-language skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking, all of which prepare them to take the GED or go on to Moorpark College.  In addition to her instructional role, she is in charge of developing curriculum and setting up the EL Civics testing, and as a mentor, helps the other teachers use technology in their classrooms to improve their teaching.

Laura says she just loves the students she works with.  "They come in every night, thirsty for the language and grateful for their teachers. They're such interesting people, with different beliefs and cultures.  It's like going on vacation and traveling every day."  The fact that her students come back to class voicing their appreciation for lessons she taught them that made their lives easier makes it all worth the effort.

Raul, Laura's husband of 8 years, whom she met in Guatemala while attending school there, works in the production lab at Baxter Pharmaceutical and is working on an MBA at CLU.  They have 2 children--4-year-old Mario, who attends pre-school and Ana, 1½, both of who have a close relationship with "Nana," Laura's mom, who is their frequent babysitter.  Between mom and grandma, perhaps there's another generation of teachers in the works?  

Some of Laura's favorite leisure-time activities include traveling, camping, baking and reading, especially mystery novels.  She's certainly well-traveled, having sojourned to Spain, Italy, England, Germany, Holland and almost all of the countries in Latin America.

From the days as her mother's classroom aide all the way to a teaching career of more than two decades after traveling the globe, Laura has come full circle to benefit and enrich the lives of new generations of international students who pass through her classroom on their own journeys toward a better life. 

Her most recent endeavor has been the completion of the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program, through which she has earned a preliminary designated subjects adult education teaching credential.

Patricia believes that with the support of Bette Empol and other members of the Adult Ed staff, she has truly been able to positively impact her students.

Patricia’s work with her students beyond class time has led her to the position of facilitator of the Conejo Creek Providers group, which incorporates multiple organizations that collaborate to improve the lives of Conejo Creek residents. Patricia is also involved with the United Way of Ventura County, the National Charity League, and the Assistance League of Conejo Valley. For the past six years, she has served on the Emergency Food and Shelter Board of Ventura County. Having been raised abroad in Caracas, Venezuela, she takes special interest in helping those who face various challenges trying to adapt to a new home country.

Patricia enjoys traveling, serving as a bilingual translator, and exercising. She is married and has 28-year-old twins, a dog, and two cats.

Here is a feature article on Bernie Calle that appeared in the Ventura County Star on May 29, 2006:

The order of U.S. society was a welcome respite from Calle's childhood in Colombia's climate of political violence and chaos.

"I was never happy with the life I saw around me," he said. "When I came to the U.S., I saw a society where everything worked. The opportunity! Everything was here for the taking." It was the start of a 50-year love affair that shows no sign of cooling.

Calle courted his new country in an unexpected place: the Army. To get his resident visa, he registered for the draft. Not one year after arriving in Florida, he was drafted.

Calle, who spoke little English, served two years in Germany, leaving his friends and family in Colombia even farther behind.

The army broke him down and built him up.

"It was the most wonderful two years of my life," Calle said. "It taught me about America, about loyalty, about love of country. It gave me a sense of pride and a sense of service."

He learned the language and culture of his adopted homeland. He acquired the blocks to build his own American dream.

Calle met his first wife in Germany. After his service ended, they moved to Chicago, married and started a family.

On May 1, 1960, Calle became an American citizen. "That to me was the happiest, proudest day of my life," he said. "I have never had a bad experience in this country. It has never let me down."

But like any love affair, Calle and his American dream had some sleepless nights.

He learned about prejudice, both as a target and an onlooker. His first bus ride in 1956 Miami provided a crash course in segregation, and in Chicago, it got personal.

When Prudential Insurance hired Calle—the company's first Spanish-speaking agent—an Italian-American co-worker immediately confronted him, used a racial epithet and said he would never last. "Instead of letting it make me bitter and disenchanted...it just made me more decided to triumph," Calle said.

A year later, Prudential honored him as its No. 1 sales agent. The company gave him a Rock of Gibraltar desk set. Calle marched to his co-worker's desk and slammed the award down.

The man told Calle that he gave him credit. "We shook hands; he embraced me," Calle said. "From then on, we were the best of friends."

From 1992 through 1998, Calle returned to Colombia and taught English at a private Catholic university, but he never felt at home.

"My heart is not there, even though it is my native country," he said.

Eight years ago, he and his second wife, Luchy Eugenia, settled in Camarillo to be near his two attorney daughters and his 9-year-old granddaughter.

Now Calle draws daily from his decades of experience assimilating into American culture to help new immigrants do the same.

He works for Conejo Valley Adult School, translating during English as a Second Language classes and teaching two sections of Spanish. Two nights a week, he advises immigrants in the English tutoring program about community resources.

"It's difficult for them to adapt to life in this country," Calle said. "That's where I come in. They come to me with all their problems. I channel them to where they need to go."

Calle tells his students that patriotism is vital to successful immigration.

Some say, "'We don't want to be Americans; we don't want to assimilate,' and I think that's wrong," Calle said.

He advises: "The first thing you have to do is learn English, because that's like the magic key.

"You have to love this country," Calle said. "You cannot be ambivalent. You cannot live there and here."

Calle's post-retirement job is a new love in itself. "For the first time in my life...I'm getting the opportunity to give back to this country and help these people adapt to life in this country," Calle said.

"I call the school Shangri-La. I'm getting something out of it that money can't buy."