feature stories

Queens teacher inspires students to dream

by Jim Callaghan

Jun 7, 2007 10:54 AM

When Luis Daniel Estrada Santiago sits down in his study to write every night for three hours, he thinks of his former teacher in Queens encouraging him to discipline himself and to let his flamboyant imagination run loose.

Estrada Santiago works all day in a theater company in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and has one novel published, “La Viuda de Rafael,” now in its second printing. He is busy with his second book and sometimes, after an arduous day at work and his visit to the gym, he just doesn’t feel like writing.

“I go into my office, light a candle for atmosphere and then I see the image of [my teacher] Lidia Julian,” he said. “I see her in the classroom, encouraging all her students to think big and not to allow anyone to stop you from fulfilling your dreams.”

Not quite a séance, but it doesn’t take much more than that to kick his creativity into overdrive. Ignoring the noise outside his window, he invents characters, struggles with dialogue and changes the scenery night after night — three hours at a clip. “Writers must write,” he said. “Or else we go stale.”

Estrada Santiago said he always wanted to be a writer. “I was writing since I was 9 years old,” he said.

Julian made his life easier with her mentoring. “My grandmother in Queens got cancer and we all moved up there from Puerto Rico,” he said. “Being in the room with Ms. Julian convinced me I could be a writer. I still send her my writing and she makes comments on it.”

Julian has influenced thousands of students since she started teaching 32 years ago. One of them is Queens Assemblywoman Michelle Titus, who visited the John Adams HS campus recently to say hello to one of her mentors.

“You couldn’t ask for a more dynamic and supportive teacher,” Titus said. “She made each of us feel special.”

Titus credits her success in politics to the confidence that Julian instilled in her and her classmates. When she attended a class reunion, Titus recalled, “It seemed like everyone was asking if Ms. Julian was still there.”

Another Julian admirer is Mario Matos, the UFT chapter leader at IS 296 in Brooklyn.

“She spoke softly but didn’t need to carry a big stick,” Matos said.

Julian was teaching at the time at IS 291 in Brooklyn. “She treated us with respect and always showed genuine care for us,” Matos recalled.

He also considers Julian his mentor and calls her on a regular basis. “We were a family for two years,” he said, remembering that she was a like a mom and big sister to him and his classmates. He described his mentor as “a level-headed teacher who always explained what she expected of us and why learning was important.”

Julian is a strong yet humble woman who is appreciative of the praise but a bit surprised. She considers her teaching career an extension of who she is and gives much credit to her mother, an immigrant from Venezuela, who raised Julian and her siblings in Queens. She said it was her mom’s energy, work ethic, values, vision, patience and hard work that paid off for Julian as she embarked on her academic journey.

“My mom was a seamstress and she also worked in the health-care industry,” Julian recalled. “Because of her, I was able to attend Tilden HS, Kingsborough Community College, Queens College and City College.”

Julian said the rigor of those schools instilled in her a “sense of accountability for my behavior, attire, academic performance and overall productivity.”

Julian, who sings and coaches students’ singing and dancing, also remembers her mom cooking for the poor every night in her home town of Caracas. “She would put the plate on the window sill and walk away so no one would be embarrassed, in case they knew her.”

Julian, who is a “College Now” instructor at Adams, teaches an original course entitled “American Culture” as part of a program at York College. One of her proudest achievements, she said, was having her students make a quilt and write essays about what they liked about America.

The students were from El Salvador, Guyana, Canada, India and the U.S. The quilt now hangs at the York campus. One student chose holidays as her theme because, she wrote, “they can all be celebrated here in America without fear of persecution.” Another student said he chose the Statue of Liberty because it represents “freedom for all the people who live in this country, or come to live in this country, without thinking about their ethnic background, race, religion or culture.”

One of her big worries, Julian said, was that students have no long-term goals. “When they think of jobs, they think of doctor, lawyer and nurse,” Julian added. “These are all excellent professions, but the students need to know the thousands of high-paying niches they can fill with a good post-high-school education ... workshops in this area would provide a sense of purpose, increase graduation rates and decrease the dropout rate.”

Julian said the toughest part of teaching is working with students burdened with problems at home that prevent them from learning and from enjoying learning.

In much the same way she gave Estrada Santiago, Matos and Titus confidence, Julian also made a lifelong impact on Emily Ann Pezzella, who said she was “lost within myself” when she was 16 years old and a student at Adams. Julian introduced her to art, literature and music. “It was her influence that helped me become a singer and song writer,” Pezzella said. “She showed me beauty in life and education.

“[She] showed me to be not only a star but she also said I have to create my own galaxy.”

Because of Julian, Pezzella said, “I am doing more than I ever thought I would be able to do.”

Still not convinced? Let Josiah Johnson have the last word. Julian, he said, “is an inspiration in my life. As a minority high school student, she allowed me to see my potential. She instilled in me a sense of humility as well as determination.”

Johnson, who is studying to become a minister, said he can still remember his teacher’s encouragement. “Not to mention the corrections,” he added.

Yet she’s dealing with lack of support

Effusive praise from students for John Adams HS teacher Lidia Julian apparently hasn’t made much of an impression on the school’s principal.

Julian was hurt during a fight when students were rampaging through a hallway on their way to witness a fight in another part of the school. Julian said she was pushed up against a wall and her back was pinned against a radiator.

The principal, Grace Zwillenberg, said her injuries were not caused by the melee and told Julian she would not be getting credit for the 53 days she was out of work. Julian suffered injuries to her arm as well as two herniated disks; Zwillenberg told Julian that there was nothing conclusive about the incident  on the school videotapes.

Through the UFT, Julian applied for medical arbitration in June 2006 and is still awaiting a hearing.

— Jim Callaghan