Xenia Castillo

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher so that I could work with the same community that I came from and have those students have one more person that believes in them. I got so lucky to not only do that but directly work at the high school I attended and with the teachers that helped make me who I am today. I am inspired every day because I know that what I do matters and I help make my school a place where my students look forward to going and learning from every day as well.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

My world language department has created a beautiful cultural event that we host at the end of the year for all our language students. They get to experience a “tardeada” at our school. It’s basically a community party where we eat, dance and see performances at our campus. It is such a treasured event and the most memorable because I have students with the most anxiety and worries but they are able to let loose, make friends and see amazing unique performances and completely flourish as student

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would contribute that money towards my department so that we could invite more performers, so we can have a better music and food set up and so that the students could have long lasting memories. I would make sure there was a fund started so that we could have this even guaranteed every year for all our students and help them with any expenses they may need.