The Mercedes Medina Díaz Cultural Association commemorates this Saturday, April 23, the thirtieth first anniversary of the greatest recognition that the Arrecife City Council offered in life to the teacher who gives the collective its name.
That Book Day of 1991 was a very emotional act in favor of education in the municipality, with the opening of a school whose works had been delayed longer than expected, and, by choosing the name of the teacher Mercedes Medina, the educational work of a professional whose value was more than recognized by all sectors was valued. The event, presided over by the mayor of the city, also a teacher, José María Espino, opened the hopes of progress in the school environment, as it was during the following decades.
Mercedes Medina was born in Tías in 1914. She lived the first years of her life in her father's town, in Femés. She continued her studies in the capital of the province, and in this city (Las Palmas) she became a teacher, because her family's resources did not allow her to be what she wanted, a mathematician, librarian or lawyer. It was in Arrecife where she worked for more years, where she was in the School for Girls number 2 of La Vega; in the Generalísimo Franco School (today, La Destila), known then as Los Grupos; the General Sanjurjo School (where the Titerroy Health Center is located today); in the School for Girls No. 2 of Arrecife, called “Escuela de Caracol” or “La Escalerita”, due to the shape of its access, in which she had ninety-one students.
The designation of the school in 1991 with the name of Mercedes Medina Díaz came to recognize the lucidity, strength and tenacity of this woman, of this teacher who fulfilled her duty with energy, generosity, responsibility, desire for improvement and discipline. Her students recognize that they obtained university degrees due to her influence, that this teacher encouraged them to study, that she quickly captured their capacities and abilities to mobilize them and thus be able to acquire skills to relate better, establishing social networks and facilitating the development of better citizens, without distinction of social levels.
