Maestra Bertha Gómez Maqueo was an important founding member of MEXTESOL in 1973 as well as an important English Language educator in the Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) in Mexico. In MEXTESOL, Bertha served in many positions on the National Governing Board (formerly Comité Ejecutivo Nacional, CEN) throughout the years and was always a willing standby --standing by to counsel or help MEXTESOL at a time when her guidance and leadership were required. Her last active position on the National Governing Board (now called Consejo Directivo Nacional, CDN) was in 1996-1998 as Parliamentarian during the Presidential terms of Miguel Ivan Abreu Filigrana, Rafael Cepeda Morales, and Peter Hubbard. She was also the Academic Chair of the convention in Zacatecas, 1996.
When Bertha Gómez Maqueo was President of MEXTESOL in 1978 (presidential terms were usually only one year back then) Mexico was in the international English Language Teaching (ELT) community limelight because the 12th TESOL convention was held in Mexico City. Bertha served as “Local Co-Chair”. This convention brought to Mexico many internationally-known ELT luminaries of the time and served as a catalyst for an explosion of interest and activity in ELT in Mexico.
During the last sixteen years, Bertha attended several Annual MEXTESOL Conventions as a guest of honor. We will truly miss her guiding spirit, although fortunately, she was able to sow the seeds of her love for children, her love for education, her love for English, and her love for MEXTESOL in many of us who follow in her footsteps.
