Kory Vargas, who graduated last year, and Mrs.
Castro.
By Maria Torres
Ms. Castro is a popular Spanish teacher in Montgomery
Blair High School who originally came from Puerto Rico. She is the sponsor of
the Hispanic Club and has helped many Latino students be successful.
Ms. Castro came to Blair H. S. in 1983. After she
went to high school she went to college and studied for a career in education
administration. When she was in her country, she already spoke Spanish and English.
English is not a language spoken in most homes in Puerto Rico, but she learned
it in school and now she speaks it very well. She had to learn English in her
country because she needed it to graduate from high school.
The first day that she came to Blair she saw an
interesting place but something that bothered her was the many Hispanic students
who weren’t graduating from high school, “As an immigrant that I am,
I think that everybody can have the opportunity to make their dreams come true,”
she said. Ms Castro thought to use the Hispanic Club so that the students could
complete their school work and get help to go the college.
There are many students who got help from her. Kory
Vargas, a senior from last year, said he got help from her. “Ms Castro helped
me all the time to pass the A.P. Spanish exam,” he said. Kory Vargas and
Ms. Castro also worked together to make a video for all of the Spanish speakers
who want to know about their cultures.
Ms. Castro helped a lot of young people to graduate
from high school and go to college. Ramiro Villarreal said that she helped him
a lot. “Ms. Castro is a teacher who taught me how much I am worth, trying
always to tell me how my life is going to change in my future.”
In Montgomery Blair, Ms. Castro teaches a course
called Spanish for Spanish Speakers. Many of the students who take Ms. Castro’s
class are people who want to be proud of their culture. Most were born in this
county or have been here since they were very young and want to know about their
parents’ customs.
In Montgomery Blair High School this amazing teacher
is able to publish the poems that Hispanic students have done, “I can say
that I have a lot of poets in my class,” Ms. Castro said. The poems that
the students have done are done with Ms. Castro’s help because she teaches
them how to write poems.
Ms. Castro doesn’t help only students. She
helps teachers, too. Ms. Gonzales, a Spanish teacher in Blair who is also from
Puerto Rico, said, “Ms. Castro was my mentor when I was a new teacher in
this school.” Now, thanks to Ms. Castro, Ms. Gonzales is doing well in the
school. “The students are comfortable with my work,” Mrs. Gonzalez
said.
Ms. Castro said that the important thing for Hispanic
students is to get a good education, especially for some students who need to
know about their customs of this country. Also she thinks that the way that a
lot of students can do well in their future is to put a lot of effort in their
dreams and they can make their dreams true. And, she added, “I want my students
to feel proud of their backgrounds. This is something very important.”
