PEF beneficiary honored
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SANTIAGO, Chile — A former stake president who earned his teaching degree with the help of the Church's Perpetual Education Fund has won a national award for teaching math.
Ruperto Rodrigo Pizarro Leyton, 38, was among 14,000 teachers nominated for the Premio de Excelencia Academica (Prize for Academic Excellence). The recognition went to teachers named "Professor of Academic Excellence" in the individual provinces.
Brother Pizarro was presented the award by Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile, who was joined by Senora Yasna Provoste, minister of education, in ceremonies in the nation's capital on March 28.
The teacher, who lives in rural Talagante with his wife and three children, studied for five years in a Santiago university. In 2005 he won a scholarship from the minister of education to further his studies in mathematics. He teaches students 10-14 years old at Efrain Maldonado Torres, in the neighboring community of Isla de Maipo.
He served in the Chile Vina del Mar Mission, married another returned missionary, Jaqueline Aroca Munoz, in the Santiago Chile Temple, and was called as president of the Talagante Stake at age 30. The stake is now a district, and Brother Pizarro serves as mission leader in the Cordillera Branch.
Brother Pizarro's success proves the words of PEF managing director Elder John K. Carmack at a recent international conference: "Already, a not insignificant number of our leaders in areas with the program are coming from the ranks of PEF recipients."
Brother Pizarro's PEF loan was among 6,000 made to nearly 3,000 young adults in Chile since the PEF began here in 2001. For those earning professional degrees, the loans cover up to 50 percent of the remaining four years of a university education after the recipient has paid the first year himself.
Brother Pizarro said the PEF has offered spiritual and temporal stability as well as greater blessings. "I can live with tranquility, knowing that I will always have the opportunity of serving others," he said.
