(I was honored to be able to give this toast at the Know Your Impact Conference on June 5, 2019.)
It’s such a joy to be with you today in celebration of one of the most irrepressible, animated and passionate forces that God ever made, my mom, Dena Carol Hargrove Mojica.
If you are here, congratulations, because for a surprise party that she didn’t know much about, I sure was getting lots of calls from her on how she wanted things done and who she wanted on the guest list. So if you are here, good on ya. You made the cut.
So you made it, I made it, and we’re all here together to celebrate.
And celebrate, we shall; for there is much to recognize. There is much to honor.
Though she may not look like it, my mom’s been crushing it in the world of education since ‘82. Am I right? I always say that my mom looks like God mashed Sally Fields and Jennifer Aniston together and then deep-fat-fried her in the fountain of youth. Right? Woman never ages. Not sure how she does it; for I’m sure that raising us 4 wasn’t helpful in the anti-aging department.
Yep, for over 37 years she’s been serving up the highest quality of content with the utmost love.
After receiving a BS in biology, she went on to teach both Middle School and High School science and math. She also served as the Director of the Child Development Center on our army base in Germany. It was in this position of leadership that her innate gifts for working with children were greatly praised. Soon after this, she earned her MA in education while we lived in Germany.
When life led our family back to Texas, she went on to teach elementary school, and in her first few years at Mabank as the Special Education Director, she received the MISD Teacher of the Year Award.This was surprising to no one though, as she’s naturally excellent at all facets of teaching.
From the lesson preparation and presentation, to classroom management and partnering with parents, her talents continue to raise the bar. My mom always said that, “The best teachers are the best learners, and the second you feel you have nothing left to learn as a teacher, it’s time for you to find a new challenge.”
And a plethora of rewarding challenges is what she found while serving at MISD.
After being the Special Ed. Director, she went on to become the Curriculum Director, and then the Assistant Superintendent.
Now, this type of career takes a lot of energy, and since my mom has the energy of the Energizer Bunny on Red Bull, one would expect such an impactful life chapter. Her energy though, while at times seems spontaneous, has really been a very focused and selective energy.
Like many working parents, she had to be choosy with how she spent her energy. She had to be picky with her ‘no’s’, selective with her ‘yes’s’.
She said no to braces (I know, shocking, right?! Coming from the woman who treats a trip to WalMart like the talent portion of a beauty pageant), so the 3 of us kids could say yes to them.
She said yes to more professional responsibility over the years, so that we 4 kids could say no to a lot of college debt.
She said no to some vacation days, so when my heart was broken in college she had the freedom to drive 7 hours on a whim to comfort me.
She occasionally said no to an MHS game or play, because her emotional health called for her to say yes to a TJ MAX run to decorate the house that my Dad just flipped.
She (sometimes) says yes to micromanaging (annoying, I know), so that she can say no to damage control later.
She didn’t say no when a teaching gig came up that was out of her preferred grade, so that she could say yes to providing us meals, the nicest of clothes, and a lovely and safe home.
She also didn’t say no when a teaching gig came up that was out of her preferred grade, so that she could now say yes to a sincere love for teaching all grades and the skills needed to coach all teachers.
She said no to remaining calm and collected in the boardroom, court room, or hospital room, so that she could say yes to helping a hurting child.
She said no to being at home with us some nights when we were young for her MA, so she could say yes to studying Ruby Payne’s work and spend her career helping kids in the trenches of generational poverty.
And way back when, in the late 70s, she said no to becoming a professional antique appraiser so that she could say yes to the most transformational fields of all–education.
And we, and the thousands of others who have taught with her, learned from her, or have been corrected by her are all so glad that she did. 😛
My mom, like most passionate people, apologizes for being a workaholic, and really, this is unnecessary; for I’ve come to believe that the best of parents are called into teaching. That’s right, God needs them there so that their mothering and fathering can be shared with kids who need it the most.
Very few hold the palpable, unstoppable love for their students like my mom and I couldn’t be more grateful to have shared her with others. Like her energy, there’s more than enough of Dena’s love to go around.
So, now, let us raise our Dr.Peppers to Dena Mojica and close with the advice that she once gave us 4 kids, “My hope for all of you is that you speak your mind, infuse every conversation with love, know that when one door closes, the one that opens will be better; and above all else, know not to fear because God will take care of you.”
To Dena Mojica, to my mom, and the opening of her next door. [Raise Glass.]