The People Who Show Up

Dallas Local Advisory Board Member, Linda Aguillon and her family

Linda Aguillon was fifteen years old the first time she understood the importance of community.

She had grown up in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, the daughter of an immigrant mother and a Texan father who had always made one thing clear to Linda: that their daughter would go to college. It was never a matter of if but when. That certainty created a baseline for her that shaped her identity long before she was old enough to question it. But Linda rose to and exceeded the expectation. She was an exemplary student and in her high school's magnet program. 

Then, at fifteen, she found out she was pregnant.

Her parents responded the way parents do — swiftly, and with the best intentions. Her high school sweetheart had already asked her father for his blessing, but love didn't change their calculus; they felt distance could protect Linda’s future.  Linda would move to Arkansas, finish high school, and stay on track to go to college while raising her son with her parents' support. 

However, Linda’s parents had underestimated her boyfriend’s commitment. He drove up to Arkansas and married her, as her mom would not allow her to leave any other way and he refused to leave without her. And before they knew it they were on their way back to Fort Worth. In what seemed to be overnight Linda was now a student, a wife, and an expecting mother, all before her junior year of high school.

Her parents were states away. Their support never wavered, but their physical presence was gone. What Linda had instead was her in-laws and a city full of strangers some of which would show up for her in ways she never could have imagined.

Mr. Wells is pictured on the left

Linda spent her junior year at a Fort Worth ISD (independent school district) school, at a campus where childcare was available so she could continue her coursework and stay close to her newborn, Anthony. Her senior year she was able to return to North Side high school where she participated in a work study program. That way she could go to school and generate income.

The pharmacist's name was Mr. Wells. He was a kind man with an even temperament, the owner of a local independent store, Well’s Pharmacy, that happened to be looking for a work-study student when Linda was looking for a placement. Her interview went well but two weeks passed without a call, and she assumed she hadn't gotten the job. Then the phone rang

My first pick didn't work out, Mr. Wells told her. Would you still like the role?

Linda said yes. She had no way of knowing that phone call would alter the trajectory of her life.

Over the years that followed, Mr. Wells became something closer to family than employer. He cheered her on. He reminded her, when she doubted herself, that she deserved the best. When Linda and her husband found a house they couldn't get approved for because they were young and their credit wasn't strong — Mr. Wells bought the property and allowed them to pay the money back as a loan. It was an act of extraordinary trust and care from a man who had simply decided to show up for someone.

This is what community looks like when it's functioning the way it was meant to. A person making a choice to recognize the potential in another person and truly commit to fostering it.

Linda graduated from high school, completed her associate's degree, and set her sights on pharmacy school — a path she'd chosen largely in tribute to Mr. Wells. But pharmacy programs weren't available in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and uprooting her family wasn't an option; the family simply couldn’t afford it. It felt like a door she’d been walking towards was slowly closing. 

Linda and her son at her graduation

But then her classmate, an older woman named Dalia, pointed her in a different direction.

Texas Wesleyan University had a scholarship program for education students. There was an advisor at the university Dalia said she should meet. Linda was skeptical. She had never imagined herself as a teacher. But Dalia was persuasive, and Linda set a meeting.  The Advisor, Carlos Martinez was convincing – Texas desperately needed bilingual educators. The gap was real, and it was urgent, and Linda, whether she knew it or not, was exactly the person to help fill it.

She thought about her mother, whose English learning coursework she had helped translate back in middle school. She thought about the full ride scholarship Texas Wesleyan was offering, the time she’d be able to spend with her son, the students she’d be able to help, and the dream she’d be fulfilling for her and her family when she finally earned her bachelor's degree. She enrolled.

Two years later Linda was graduating once again as an exemplary student. She had made the dean's list all while working and parenting her growing family. In August of 1998, Linda Aguillon walked into her first classroom. She was right on time.

What awaited her wasn’t a challenge–it was the opportunity that would define her purpose. 

In a full circle moment, Linda returned to teach at the elementary school she once attended, she came home to more than a classroom – she came home to her calling. The experience ignited a deep commitment to serving students, partnering with families, and strengthening communities through education. 

She became a strong advocate for multilingual learners, committed to ensuring every student’s language, culture, and identity were recognized as assets. That commitment to equity and access became the foundation of her career. 

Over the next 20-plus years, Linda built a career across public education and teh education industry, focused on improving outcomes for students and supporting those who serve them. She taught in the classroom, coached teachers and school and district leaders, designed curriculum, and led professional learning in bilingual literacy, English language development, and instructional practice. She also earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a literacy emphasis, deepening her expertise and impact. 

Her work evolved into systems-level leadership, partnering with school systems, and district leaders to design scalable solutions that strengthen instruction and improve outcomes for multilingual learners. She also serves as an elected school board trustee at Castleberry ISD, bringing both classroom experience and executive leadership to district governance and decision-making that shape opportunities for students across the community. 

When Linda came across a post on social media from Courtney Taylor-El, Generation Hope's Director of Programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, she recognized something immediately. Here was an organization built around the premise she had lived: that young people navigating enormous challenges don't need to be written off; they need the support of their community.

I love this, she commented. Before long, she was on the phone with Courtney, learning about Generation Hope's work supporting parenting students in their pursuit of higher education.

"Just imagine if I had the wraparound services that Generation Hope provides," Linda said. "I love this whole concept of our students being supported — and I think that is what resonated with me the most."

Linda Aguillon pictured at the 2026 Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Graduation and Awards Banquet

Today, Linda serves on Generation Hope's Dallas local advisory board, bringing to the table not just professional expertise in literacy and education accessibility, but something that can't be quantified: the grounding of someone who has lived the same realities Generation Hope scholars are navigating. She knows what it costs to keep going. She knows, because she lived it, that the right community at the right moment can be life changing. That’s why when an opportunity came to facilitate a donation from the Perry and Joyce Johns Foundation to the Generation Hope community in Dallas-Fort Worth she led the charge.

Linda’s career has been defined by a steadfast mission: to expand opportunity, elevated educators, and ensure every student has access to an equitable, high-quality education that allows them to thrive. That mission is underscored by her current role as an Executive Director leading an organization focused on building accessible, authentic curriculum for students across the country. 

The role of family is still critically important in Linda’s life – she’s watched her two children grow up and now has a granddaughter. And the home that Mr. Wells, once purchased for a young family who couldn't get a bank loan is now a rental property, contributing to the economic mobility of her family. 

The role of community in Linda’s life is unmistakably clear. Mr. Wells became a mentor. Dalia mentioned a scholarship. Carlos opened a door. And a fifteen-year-old girl from Fort Worth went on to spend her life opening doors for others.