Jilma Vidaurri After 20 years of serving on the Kingsville Independent School District School Board, Trustee Jilma Vidaurri has decided not to file for reelection.

Vidaurri is retiring in order to support her husband, I.Q. Vidaurri, former Texas A&I University Financial Aid Director and Dean of Students, during his illness.

“I think it’s time,” Vidaurri said.

“I feel like I have accomplished a lot while on the board and it is time to let someone else who has the availability and desire to contribute to the wellbeing of KISD children serve the community.”

Looking back, Vidaurri says her favorite memories of being on the board are those in which a goal was accomplished as a “team of eight.”

“As a team of eight, compromised of the seven board members and the superintendent, we have been able to create a better environment for our students, which will last well into the future,” she said.

“The building of new schools, such as Gillett Intermediate and A.D. Harvey Elementary, has been a great thing to be a part of,” Vidaurri said.

Vidaurri also says being able to create new ideas in order to keep students in school and give them the opportunity to have a career in the future and contribute to the community is what she is most proud of.

“Having the power to implement creative and effective ways of keeping students in school in order to receive their education and become productive members of society is a great feeling,” Vidaurri said.

Vidaurri, who is originally from Benavides, has been involved in education most of her life.

She attended Texas A&I University, where she met her husband, and received her degree in home economics.

She taught home economics for seven years in Corpus Christi, ten years at H.M. King High School, and later became a counselor at H.M. King where she worked for 15 years.

While she was teaching, she sponsored the FHA (Future Homemakers of America) club and took her students to conferences and meetings all around the area, state, and even one stop at a national conference in Colorado.

“I enjoyed teaching very much,” Vidaurri said. “I did a lot of projects with my students and was able to teach them skills they could keep with them for a lifetime.”

Vidaurri, along with her husband, has been involved in the El Dorado Club and has designed and sewn dresses for the debutantes for many years.

“I first learned to sew in my home economics classes in high school and continued to learn more when I went to college; it is something I truly enjoy,” Vidaurri said.

“The first thing I ever sewed was a petty coat when I was 14, so I’ve come a long way.”

She sewed her first El Dorado gown for her daughter when she was a debutante in 1971 and has continued since then.

“I also sew bridal and prom dresses and I plan to continue sewing in the future,” Vidaurri said.

Aside from sewing, Vidaurri enjoys reading and spending time with her family.

She and her husband have been married 57 years and have three children, Hector, who works with the Texas Department of Transportation in Austin; Nelda, who is a Justice on the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi; and David, who works at an engineering firm in Houston.

Vidaurri has four grandchildren whom she is proud to say have all graduated from college.

Vidaurri says that she is hoping anyone with the desire to improve the educational system in Kingsville and has a genuine interest in the betterment of the children of the community will file to run in the school board election in May.

“I hope a lot of people that have good ideas for the advancement of the school district and are from all walks of life with different opinions and experiences try to become a member of the school board,” Vidaurri said.

“It truly has been a great experience and I enjoyed every minute of it,” she said.

The deadline to file for the May school board election is March 8.