Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Consuelo Castillo Kickbush recently visited representatives from the Newburgh Enlarged City School District and surrounding communities to discuss how teachers, parents and community leaders can work together to help improve the academic success of all students.
By Kerry Butrick, Newburgh Enlarged School District
On Mon., October 25, 2010, Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Consuelo Castillo Kickbush visited representatives from the Newburgh Enlarged City School District and surrounding communities to discuss how teachers, parents and community leaders can work together to help improve the academic success of all students.
After retiring from the United States Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel at the peak of her career, Castillo Kickbush started her own company in 1997 and embarked on her career as a motivational speaker, leadership trainer, and mentor. She is now the president of Educational Achievement Services, Inc. and the creator of the Family Leadership Institute. After joining the military and becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Combat Support Field of the Army, she quickly became a role model for her community. “I learned to be proud of who I was,” she explained.
Newburgh Enlarged City School District’s Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Ed Forgit and NECSD Board of Education President Dawn Fucheck speak with Consuelo Castillo Kickbush following her recent speaking engagement.
Determined to Make A Better Life
During the event, hosted by the Mid Hudson Principal’s Center, Castillo Kickbush’s message of dedicating our lives to serving the youth of America resonated with many of the members of the audience. “Each and every child will not come to their destiny the same way. They are waiting for us. They need us,” she explained.
Speaking about her childhood as one of ten children in Laredo, Texas, Castillo Kickbush explained that she was always determined to make a better life for herself. She discussed how growing up surrounded by poverty, discrimination and illiteracy, which affects many students both in the Newburgh community and across the country, can affect a child’s self-esteem and self-image which translates into the classroom.
Classism is Just as Dangerous as Racism
Throughout the course of her childhood, Castillo Kickbush explained that she eventually realized that she was often labeled because of her class and background. “Classism is just as dangerous as racism,” she explained. Encouraged by her hard-working father along the way and a teacher who chose to see her for who she really was, she set out to find the “American Dream” and saw education as the passage way to a better life for herself and her family.
“In whatever you do in life,” explained Castillo Kickbush, “The most important thing is to have a mission and a passion for what you do.”
Earlier in the day, Castillo Kickbush met with teacher and principals from Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Dutchess Counties to discuss youth in education and ways to improve the current system.
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