Tomorrow begins a new school year. Every beginning is exciting. This year will mark Felix Varela Senior High School's 10th anniversary.
It is also the year that a Varela graduate join the ranks as a faculty member.
Natalie Castillo will be teaching language arts. She was a proud graduate of Varela's first graduating class.
I asked her to share with me what had inspired her to be a teacher. She said, "I have always enjoyed teaching in one sense or another and during my years at Varela I became very aware of the achievement gap in schools in this country. Up to that point, I had done a fair amount of tutoring and I thought about all the amazing teachers I had and thought it was so unfair that most students would not have gotten the same opportunities. I decided I would teach English because it was always my strongest point. I wanted to help students learn to love literature as much as I always had, and to be able to express themselves with ink in ways they hadn't been able to yet. "
Nat's thoughts about Varela's tenth anniversary- "When they told us they were building a new school, I remember we all were a little bit disappointed. Until then, all of our friends figured we would all be going to another school together. Then the feeder pattern lines were redrawn and one was made between my house and my best friend's. I was so unhappy, but soon got excited about being able to start all these traditions at a new school. I haven't even thought about how I felt before I got to Varela since then until right now because of all the incredible people I met and the memories we made. It is kind of strange being back. Superficially it seems very natural walking through the same hallways again, but it very strange considering all of my former teachers now colleagues, but I also very privileged to work with the same people I have always respected and who helped to bring the best out of me ten years ago. "
The Varela faculty welcomes Ms. Castillo as a fellow colleague and applauds her for joining such a rewarding profession.
