About

    Delia Cerpa was born in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. Forty days after her birth her family moved to Barrio Florida in San Lorenzo, PR, where she enjoyed a multi sensory experience in a tropical paradise on the family farm. At 13 years old she moved to Bronx, New York with her widowed mother and the remaining nine older siblings.

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      At age 21, in 1960 she joined Pan American Airlines as one of the first cohorts of Latin American women and men as airline hostesses and hosts. She traveled through South America Europe, Middle East, Far East, and Asia near the western Coast of Africa. Other areas of the globe she covered on vacations with wonderful traveling perks that come from flying with a major international airline. She considers this life experience as her first Live Degree in Human Geography, learning so much more than in a classroom.

 

     In 1966 she pursued and earned an Associate Degree in Fashion Design at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. After she graduated she spent three years working as a designer of women sportswear and dresses. Marriage and raising a family led her to an interest in education. She earned a BA degree in Psychology and Education from Hunter College SUNY in 1974 and two MS degrees in Education and Leadership at Bank Street College of Education in NYC in 1975 and 1978. Work and an interest in the needs of children and families led her to earn an M.Ed in Special Education as she pursued Doctoral Studies in International Education.

 

   As she pursued and attained degrees and certifications as she worked as a classroom teacher, director of antipoverty programs for children and families, Director of a Bilingual Montessori School, university faculty and manager of Special Education projects that provided consultation and technical assistance to states in the US Southeast Region that were also linked to the national perspective. Some of the areas she championed were Affirmative Action, over representation of Minorities in Special Education, implementation of provision of services to infants and toddlers with disabilities under the Individuals With Disabilities Act. After an active career of 37 years in education, she retired from her employment in education to review her life and write her memoirs. Queen of the Flowers: Memories of a Puerto Rican Girls her first book.