LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- She barely spoke English when she moved to Louisville in the first grade over 40 years ago. Wednesday, she went before the U.S. Senate on the path to become a federal district court judge.
While it was was decades in the making, Ana Reyes credits it all to her first grade teacher Pat Harkleroad, known to her students as Mrs. H.
A dream come true for both Reyes and Harkleroad, the two reunited on Capitol Hill for Wednesday's confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C.
Their relationship began in 1980 at Wilder Elementary School in Louisville where Reyes was a lost and overwhelmed first grader, having just moved to the U.S. after living in Uruguay and Spain.
She didn't understand much English, but Reyes said that all changed because of Harkleroad, who came in before school to work one-on-one with her so she could get to the same level as her classmates. But that was just the start.
Reyes went on to graduate from Atherton High School, get her master's degree, graduate from Harvard Law School and become an attorney in the nation's capitol.
Now, 42 years later, as Reyes was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia, Harkleroad was there by her side. Reyes said she wouldn't be where she is today without her.
"I had no doubt that she would do that, and as bright as she was and as much as she learned as fast as she learned, you knew that she was gonna go somewhere," Harkleroad said. "You just know those things when you're teaching. You know that that's what's going to occur sometime down the road, but she's exceeded in everything she's tried to do and I'm just so really, just so proud of her."
Pat Harkleroad was the first grade teacher of Ana Reyes, a Louisville native who is on the path to becoming a U.S. District Court judge. Harkleroad was in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, June 22, 2022 for Reyes' confirmation hearing in front of the U.S. Senate.
While the two lost touch over the years, Reyes worked to find her former teacher, wanting to thank her for sending her down a lifelong path of success and volunteer work helping other immigrants.
"Every time I see her I get chill bumps, and I'm ready to cry again," Harkleroad said. "It just, that's just the way it is."
It's a lifelong connection brought back together under the happiest of circumstances.
If confirmed, Reyes will be the first LGBTQIA and Hispanic woman to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
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