Scholarship to honor beloved Vallejo teacher who died last year

VALLEJO – Nancy Orpilla was meant to be a teacher. Described as being patient, calm, and never having a bad word to say about any of her students, Orpilla’s death of cancer last year left a hole in the Vallejo school district that will likely never fully heal. 

A beloved 1st grade teacher at Federal Terrace Elementary School, Orpilla died of lung cancer in April 2023. Her family, former colleagues and students are on a mission to support the next generation of teachers with a scholarship fund in her memory.

“Nancy loved being a teacher in Vallejo. She loved her students, she loved her colleagues,” said Orpilla’s husband, Mel Orpilla, who helped spearhead the memorial scholarship to honor his late wife.

For the inaugural year, two $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to graduating high school seniors from a Vallejo public school who plan on attending college to become a teacher. 

Additional eligibility requirements include having a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher, plans to enroll full time in an accredited college or university, and majoring in a degree toward a California teaching credential. 

The scholarship will continue for the next decade, until the initial seed money of $20,000 is exhausted, said Mel Orpilla, adding that $10,000 came from a benefit concert and the remaining $10,000 was donated by an anonymous individual. 

“I want Nancy’s love and legacy of teaching to continue for another 10 years,” said Mel Orpilla, who added that the length of the scholarship honors the lost decade of teaching his wife would have expected to complete before she retired. 

Teaching was a second career for Orpilla as she previously worked as a certified public accountant. Her love for her own children, Justine and Gabe Haarberg, kindled her desire to teach. 

“Teaching was her calling,” Mel Orpilla said. She continued to teach until just months before her death. That calling has passed on to Orpilla’s daughter, Justine Haarberg, who is working on obtaining her own teaching credential. 

Mel Orpilla said his wife’s work ethic never faltered, even after her cancer diagnosis. 

“I’ve never seen anyone work that hard,” he said. “Some days there was stress, other days were great but she was always working for her students, putting in 12 to 14 hour days.” Her work outside the classroom included grading papers, creating lesson plans and filling out report cards.

Federal Terrace Principal Marisa Carbonell worked with Orpilla for about 10 years and said she saw firsthand the love she had for teaching. 

Carbonell said Orpilla was committed to making sure all of her 1st graders had the solid reading skills they would need moving forward in life.  

“Nancy was a special person, and I am not just saying that because she is gone, she truly was a one of a kind,” Carbonell said. “Nancy always had this clear sense of what she needed to do for our students.” 

Carbonell also said she sought out Orpilla’s guidance when bombarded with issues at the school.

“She was someone I could go to spew out all my issues, and she would kindly listen,” Carbonell said. “Then in her soft spoken manner she would talk me back to a place where things made sense.”

The school community has continued to honor Orpilla by raising money for the American Lung Association via two walk-a-thons. Orpilla attended the first walk before she died. Carbonell said a third walk is expected to take place in early May. 

“Losing someone as healthy, strong, and alive as Nancy, made us realize how fragile life really is, and the importance of focusing on family and priorities,” Carbonell said.

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is 11:59 p.m. on April 19. Applicants will need to complete the online application, upload a high school transcript, and write a 500-word essay on “Why you want to be a teacher and how this scholarship will support your goal.”

For more information, or questions email mel9661@orpilla.com.