By Emily Chaffins -
Photographer: EMILY CHAFFINS | FC
Former student Alejandra Presiga, left, her mother Oliva Presiga, far right, and former pre-K teacher Otilia Penczak gathered at Good Shepherd Child Care Center in Cutler Bay on Dec. 7, 2023 to reminisce about their inspiring story. Alejandra and Penczak hold a photograph of Alejandra’s graduation from Good Shepherd in the early 1990s, in which Penczak is also pictured.
CUTLER BAY | Anyone visiting Good Shepherd Child Care Center in Cutler Bay will immediately notice a crucifix featured prominently at the entrance. A plaque tells its story: When Hurricane Andrew wrecked the building in 1992, the crucifix — supported by one nail — and the wall it hung on were the only things left standing.
Just as the crucifix weathered the storm, the families that are part of the child care center’s community weather many different challenges. In at least one case, those challenges span three generations, and provide an example of Good Shepherd’s impact on the community.
Good Shepherd Child Care Center is a service of Catholic Charities and Head Start. The center serves families in need, providing education, life skills, therapy, and resources to 3–5-year-olds. Similar Catholic Charities child care centers are located in Little Havana, Little Haiti, Wynwood, Leisure City, and Liberty City.
“We’re providing all these services to families who otherwise wouldn’t have the resources because they’re not economically advantaged,” said Evelyn Molina, regional director for Good Shepherd and the Leisure City center.
Photographer: COURTESY
Alejandra Presiga treasures many photographs, including this one, from her education at Good Shepherd Child Care Center in the early 1990’s. In this photograph, Alejandra (front) is dressed in a pilgrim costume that her mother, Oliva Presiga, handmade for a Thanksgiving show.
Photographer: COURTESY
Alejandra Presiga has treasured many photographs, including the ones depicted here, from her education at Good Shepherd Child Care Center in the early 1990’s.
Good Shepherd’s education coordinator, and former pre-K teacher, Otilia Penczak, sees herself in today’s students and families.
“When I came over here, I started from zero, with nothing, because we came escaping from war,” said the educator, whose father was the secretary of education in Nicaragua before they fled the civil war there in 1979.
Despite hardship, Penczak followed both her parents’ footsteps in pursuing a career in education. In 1987, she began working for Catholic Charities. She began teaching at Good Shepherd in 1989.
“I started as a parent, then a volunteer, and then I started feeling the passion in helping others,” she explained. “Being an immigrant, I know what all the immigrants that just came to this country are going through... That was me when I started.”
“I feel blessed to end up in a program that values the struggles, in the sense that they help us to find our path,” she added. “Now it’s like I’m giving back to the community what I received 40 years before.”
Alejandra Presiga was a student in Penczak’s class. Her mother, Oliva Presiga, came from Colombia to the United States seeking a better life for her family and respite from violence. Alejandra was born in the U.S.
Oliva said she initially decided to send Alejandra to Good Shepherd because of its proximity — it was located across the street from their former house.
“Once she came here, she found it was Catholic, and she was just in awe with that,” Alejandra said.
She attended the school from 1990 to 1992, and her mother became an active volunteer. “Whatever they asked of me, I would do,” Oliva said.
Alejandra, now a mom herself, showed photographs of a 1991 Thanksgiving show where she and her classmates dressed up as Native Americans and pilgrims. “Everything you see here as a costume, my mom sewed, or made, or fixed in some sort of way,” she said.
“Every single picture you see here, I remember every moment,” she added, mentioning the Halloween costume parties and piñatas, the Hispanic heritage celebrations, and the Christmas and Mother’s Day shows.
Whereas other kids usually complain about having to go to school, Alejandra said, “For us it was like, ‘Can we go to school now? Is it time to go?’”
“It was such great times back then,” she added. “Hurricane Andrew happened and we didn’t see or feel any of that... We were still in school, still having our fun, and our world didn’t stop. For our parents, it did, but as kids, we didn’t know what was going on.”
Photographer: EMILY CHAFFINS | FC
From left: Oliva Presiga, her grandson and current Good Shepherd Child Care student Gianlucca Mejia, his mother, Alejandra Presiga, and Alejandra’s former pre-K teacher, Otilia Penczak, are pictured at the center in Cutler Bay on Dec. 7, 2023.
The center was able to provide a feeling of safety for the children, despite the fact that the building was totaled.
“In March 1993, we reopened in trailers in the playground until Catholic Charities found the money to rebuild the school,” Penczak said.
“I can remember a lot of the activities and events, the friends, and having Ms. Otilia as a teacher,” Alejandra said. “This is one of the reasons my life goal was to become a teacher, but life led me in different routes, and that is what I’m working on now, finally.”
Alejandra is a member of the parent committee for Catholic Charities, representing Good Shepherd at the Head Start level. She also serves as secretary for Catholic Charities’ policy committee and executive policy committee. And she is studying to become a teacher, aspiring to do so at Good Shepherd.
Penczak can draw a lot of parallels between their career journeys and said she is thrilled to have the opportunity to see her former student grow.
Inspired by her own mother’s volunteering, Alejandra said it was a no-brainer for her to enroll her son, Gianlucca Mejia, in the Early Head Start program at Good Shepherd last August. “That’s why I always said, I can’t wait for my turn, because I saw: It’s just great.”
