Theresa (Currano) Talavera '93

Theresa (Currano) Talavera graduated from Oakcrest in 1993, and she has remained rooted in the Oakcrest community ever since. From teaching at Oakcrest to serving on the Gala Committee to being an Oakie parent, Theresa loves maintaining a deep connection with her alma mater. 

After graduation, Theresa went to the University of Maryland at College Park, where she studied Romance Languages. During this time, she enjoyed a lot of time immersing herself in new languages by living abroad. Having had a desire to teach ever since she was young, Theresa hoped to share her passion for languages in a school setting post-graduation.  She ended up doing just that, returning to Oakcrest as a Spanish and French teacher for two years. When her first daughter was born, she decided to become a full-time mother. Theresa currently homeschools four of her children and has enjoyed being able to impart her love for languages to her entire family over the years. The Talavera children speak French and Spanish with their parents frequently at home. 

Theresa enjoyed a rich Oakcrest experience that she remembers fondly. She was involved in many aspects of student life, from playing softball all four years of high school to working on the stage crew for many Oakcrest shows and serving on Student Council. She loved going to Mass there, and shares that it formed a habit of daily Mass attendance that gave her a lot of strength and comfort during college and her first years of being a mother. As for her classes, Theresa believes they taught her how to be confident in her beliefs and able to share them well with others. She’s grateful for the influence of Oakcrest faculty, particularly Miss Pat O’Donovan and Miss Mary Jane Rice. 

“Miss O'Donovan made history and English an adventure with her passion for both and her amusing and animated commentaries, and taught us to always go deeper in our reading and analysis,” Theresa explains. “Miss Rice became a close friend as my advisor and through three years of supervising my work as stage manager for the Oakcrest show. She helped me to understand the importance of generosity in fostering deep friendships with others as well as with God.” 

In 2011, Theresa began volunteering to help with the Oakcrest Auction and Gala. Having had experience acquiring donations for another organization, and wanted to put her knowledge at the service of Oakcrest. It has been a very rewarding experience for her. “I loved being able to help Oakcrest come up with new ways to make the Gala better each year and I have really enjoyed getting to know the other parents on the Gala committee,” she says. “We each bring our own talents and personality to the table, and the end result is always amazing!”  

Theresa is the proud parent of two Oakies, Eliana (‘17) and Maite (‘21). “I have loved watching my daughters go through Oakcrest these past several years,” she says. “I am so grateful they were both able to begin in sixth grade, as I feel like they had the fullest Oakcrest experience in this way. It makes me very happy to see that Oakcrest is still Oakcrest, even though the building is totally new and the student body is more than twice what it was when I was a student there. It still feels like home to me.” Oakcrest has a tradition of Alumnae presenting their Oakcrest graduates with their diploma at graduation, and Theresa looks forward to handing Maite her diploma on June 4.