María de la Luz Reyes is Professor Emerita of Education at the University of Colorado-Boulder where she last taught. She began her educational career as an elementary and a high school teacher earning traditional and bilingual teaching credentials from Texas, Missouri, and California. After completing her M.A. she became Coordinator of the Bilingual Teacher Education Program at Texas Woman’s University where she also taught. Reyes earned a Ph.D in Educational Psychology with specialization in language, culture, and literacy at the University of California –Santa Barbara. Professor Reyes has taught at: Texas Woman’s University, California Lutheran University, CSU-Bakersfield, The University of Colorado at Boulder, and CSU-Monterey Bay where she was a member of the founding faculty. Professor Reyes has also worked on various literacy and Border Pedagogy projects with CSU-San Marcos faculty.
Professor Reyes’ areas of expertise include language, literacy, bilingual/multicultural education, and equity issues in higher education. Her publications have appeared in the Harvard Educational Review, Language Arts, Research in the Teaching of English, English Journal, The Reading Teacher,Education and Urban Society, Journal of Latinos and Education, Theory into Practice, The Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education, and others. Her book, The Best for our Children: Critical Perspectives in Literacy for Latino Students(co-edited with John Halcón) earned the Critics Choice Book Awardfrom the American Educational Studies Association (2004). Her most recent book is Words Were All We Had: Becoming Biliterate Against the Odds (Teachers College Press, 2011) was named a Finalist for an International Latino Book Award(2012) by Libros Publishing and Scholastic. Currently, Reyes is focused on writing children’s books. To date, she has published, How Will I Talk to Abuela?(2016) -Bronze medal winner of The International Latino Book Award (2017), ¿Cómo voy a hablar con abuela?(2018). Her third book, Countdown to the Last Tortilla/Cuenta atrás hasta la última tortilla(bilingual version) will be released spring 2019.
In addition to her academic work, Dr. Reyes has been directly involved with the early development of Route 78 Rotary Club, a Latino chapter of Rotary International. Reyes served as the founding secretary for three and a half years helping to establish the club’s positive presence in Latino communities of North County San Diego through support of local educational projects & international projects. Reyes has co-chaired the popular Mariachi Festival & Tacos & Tequila Receptions for the 2nndand 3rrddand 5thannual festivals at the Center for the Arts in Escondido. She served as a member of the Board of Directors (2013-2015) of this young, successful community organization that was recently recognized as “The Best Rotary Club” (medium size category) for 2015-2016.
Reyes resides in San Marcos, CA with her husband, Dr. John Halcón.