New middle school to be named Adela & Gilbert Vasquez

The vote was unanimous, and the packed boardroom stood and applauded. On August 19, ECISD officially approved the naming of the new middle school in honor of longtime ECISD educators Adela and Gilbert Vasquez.

Adela was born in Odessa. She attended Zavala Elementary, Ector Junior High, and graduated from Ector Senior High School in 1967. She was voted Miss Ector HS her senior year. Continuing her education was a priority for her, and Adela attended Odessa College before transferring to Texas Tech University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in guidance and counseling. After teaching in Lubbock and working for Region 18 Education Service Center, she was hired by ECISD in 1981 as a counselor serving elementary and junior high students. She was hired as the district’s public information officer in 1985 and later as the director of guidance, counseling, and testing. She helped bring the Student Assistant Services program into existence. She retired in 2009 but returned as a supervisor in the counseling department and, finally, an SAS counselor at Permian High School. She served in public education for 44 years. Additionally, she advocated for kids as a home study evaluator for the adoption of children through judicial district courts in the Permian Basin. Adela passed away in January 2022.

Gilbert’s family moved to Odessa when he was five years old. He attended Austin Elementary and, as school boundary lines shifted, Lamar Elementary, Crockett Junior High and graduated from Odessa High School in 1967. Baseball was his game and excelled during his time at OHS, even continuing to play while attending Odessa College and Texas Tech. Like Adela, education was important to him; he majored in education and earned his master’s degree in guidance and counseling. His teaching career began in 1975 as a Spanish teacher/In-School Suspension teacher and counselor at Odessa High. He held counseling roles for migrant children and in the Special Education Department, as well as assistant principal positions at Bonham Junior High, OHS and Crockett JH. He served as the principal at the alternative center and at Hood Junior High before moving downtown to become director of Human Resources, and eventually the assistant superintendent of HR, before retiring in 2009 after 35 years in education. Like Adela, he returned to education in different roles including mentoring new teachers. Today he is an Odessa City Councilman.

“I have a triple investment in ECISD,” said Gilbert. “One, I am product of ECISD; two, I was employed by ECISD for an entire career; and three, my two children and grandchildren received a quality education from ECISD.”

Adela and Gilbert were married for 54 years. Between them, they served in public education for nearly 80 years. Their legacy will live on for many more decades through this new school.