Puerto Rico, a Unique Culture: History, People and Traditions

Hilda Iriarte is a Puerto Rican writer, sociologist and English teacher. She is the mother of three children. As a young girl, she moved to the United States with her family where she attended primary and intermediate school. Back in Puerto Rico, she graduated with a B.A degree from the (UPR-RP) University of Puerto Rico, at the Rio Piedras Campus. She majored in Sociology and Political Sciences and met her husband, Rafael Capo. She began studies for a Masters degree in Education, at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, to obtain her teachers certificate in Puerto Rico. Hilda then worked as a Middle and High School English teacher where she coordinated and tutored students for the schools Scripps National Spelling Bee Contest. As a teacher, she organized an English theater production for her students, and joined an English language international Pen-pal program so her students could correspond in English with other students from all over the world. She also studied and obtained her Real Estate license in Puerto Rico. She was elected President of FERNI in 1993-94, a womens non-profit, volunteer organization, founded in 1983 by Rotary Anns to help children with disabilities in Puerto Rico. Hilda received a Smith-Kline Beecham Award in 1994 for her work as President of FERNI and for her contributions to help children with disabilities in Puerto Rico. She promoted and organized the first official drawing contest with prizes hosted by FERNI. This contest had as main purpose the development of artistic and motor skills in children with disabilities up to the age of sixteen. This drawing contest is still held today in Puerto Rico.