Patrice Mariscal

Capistrano Adult School

Patrice Mariscal was born in Mexico City where she studied at the Panamerica University and received a BA in Pedagogy and an MA in Human Development.

Before coming to the USA Patrice owned her own business in Puebla Mexico. called MARCA S,A. a consultant company specializing in the areas of Human Development and Customer Service where she offered consulting services in multicultural issues, Organizational Culture, Personal Development in a Cross Cultural Society, Cultural Effects in Productivity and Development of Work Teams. In addition she pioneered self-development programs for women and the family in Puebla, Mexico.

While in Mexico, Patrice served as a consultant to many banks and industrial firms and was a recognized lecturer on educational process for young adults, parents as well as educators on issues relating to work habits, self-development, self-pride, and cultural awareness.

In 1996, she moved with her husband and two small children to Laguna Niguel, located in South Orange County, where she attempted to settle in to a new life where English met her around every corner. In her words, she knew "basic English" at that point, but wanted more comfort in the everyday situations that confront and confound non-native speakers. I still remember her story of being in an Albertsons supermarket for the first time with a basket full of groceries, a credit card that wouldn't cooperate, and feelings of frustration and embarrassment; luckily, the store manager was very kind and called Patrice's husband to assist her!

In 1997, Patrice enrolled in an Intermediate ESL class, which met five mornings a week from 9:00am-12:00pm. It was not hard to see that Patrice would be an asset to the class, as her fun and supportive personality quickly endeared her to the other students. Her "no fear" attitude inspired everyone to take risks not only in the classroom, but in the outside world as well. The class that year would be a specially bonded group, many of which, almost ten years later, still meet with each other, thanks in part to the efforts of a few key people, Patrice included. She attended the class through early 1999, moving onward to bigger and brighter things.

During 1998 to 1999, Patrice worked with the CHEC (Community Health Education Collaborative) program which is backed by Catholic Charities, Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center, and Mission San Juan Capistrano. For a brief time (1999-2001) she worked as a Bilingual Community Liaison for Capistrano Adult School.

Patrice's current projects include the following:

• Bilingual Counselor in the Santa Ana Jail,
• President of Comite Fiestas Patrias Orange County,(a, non-profit organization)
• Consultant, Lecturer and Executive Director of UNICO (a non-profit Foundation). The mission of UNICO is to build bridges of understanding and respect within local communities and between local service providers through education; UNICO has been awarded two honors for being one of the best programs of its kind in the Orange County.
• Consultant for the Mexican Consulate in Orange County.

Last, but certainly not least, Patrice is wife to husband Sal, and proud mother to Ana, a freshman, and Richard, a junior, at one of our local high schools.

As you can see, Patrice, once a student (and at one time, an employee at Capistrano Adult School) is now one of our most hard working collaborative partners. She is a resolute advocate for the most in need in our communities, and a charming personality who motivates individuals of all backgrounds to aim higher and reach their goals.