PHILADELPHIA — Some people might say Diana Garcia came from very little: Her parents were undocumented immigrants from Dominican Republic who sometimes lacked the money to buy clothes for the family. They never stepped foot in their children's school buildings — they didn't speak English, and they didn't feel welcome.
But Garcia often says she "comes from poverty, not dysfunction." Despite her parents' lack of material means, there was abundant love at home, thrift store books — including a set of encyclopedias that had some volumes missing — and the pervasive sense that education would vault their bright daughter to a better life.
Garcia, now the principal of Willard Elementary School in Philadelphia, surely has lived up to her parents' dreams for her.
