For Guadalupe Nava, a lifetime of service began long before he ever set foot in a classroom. After growing up in Alice, Texas, Nava enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1967. He served for four years, including a deployment to Vietnam. When he returned home in 1971, he was newly married and ready to start a family—and, as it turned out, a career that would shape generations of students.
“My father encouraged me to go to college,” Nava recalled. “He ran a small upholstery shop in Alice and kept telling me to go back to school. Finally, I did.”
Using the G.I. Bill, Nava earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts, followed quickly by a master’s in education administration with help from Texas’s Hazelwood Act, which provides veterans with a college tuition exemption. “The military taught me discipline and leadership,” he said. “You learn to finish what you start—and that helped me in everything that followed.”
Nava began teaching industrial arts at a junior high school in Harlingen ISD, where his talent for connecting with students quickly became apparent. After five and a half years in the classroom and eight years as an assistant principal, he was selected to serve as principal at Harlingen High School South. Altogether, Nava dedicated 32 years to public education.
During his tenure, he was named High School Principal of the Year twice—an honor he humbly credits to his staff. “It wasn’t me; it was my teachers,” he said. “They were an awesome group. I just had the privilege to lead them.”
For Nava, the greatest reward came not from awards but from the lasting connections he built with students. “I still run into former students all the time,” he said. “They’ll tell me, ‘I still have the project I made in your class,’ or thank me for helping them through tough times. That’s what means the most.”
Now retired in his hometown of Alice, Nava continues to inspire others, often encouraging young educators and veterans alike to keep learning and leading. “You have to have the desire to do it,” he said. “It’s not that you can’t; it’s that you have to want to. That’s what I try to instill in people.”
From the Air Force to the classroom and beyond, Guadalupe Nava’s story is one of perseverance, purpose, and deep dedication to his students and community.
