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My Heritage has Helped me Help More Students!

Posted October 10, 2024, 4:45 PM. Updated October 16, 2024, 5:16 PM.

Hispanic educators reflect on their heritage and the impact it has had in the classroom.

As Hispanic Heritage Month winds down, we asked several APS educators to reflect on both their careers and how their backgrounds have helped shape their lives in our schools. What you’ll read is a window into the work – and the passion – that guides many district teachers, principals, instructional coaches, and other staff members who work with students of almost every race and ethnicity every day.

Jose Carrillo, Music teacher, Reginald Chavez and Mitchell elementary schools

What led you to become an educator, and how has your Hispanic heritage influenced your career?

I see the need for more Mexican music (mariachi) being taught in our schools, especially at elementary level. There are many middle and high school mariachi programs opening in our state every year and I believe that the earlier we can introduce those students to this music, the better chance they will have to join those classes in the future and even of becoming professional players or educators.

Also, I came to this country at the age of 14, I did not have any bilingual education support. I learned English by asking and struggling. I always make sure all my students are aware I can translate and I am there for them!

What would you consider your finest moment in education?

I would say it was when I was asked to make elementary school music lessons for PBS during Covid in 2020. I was chosen out of about 80 music educators because of my bilingual skills. The episodes I filmed were watched all around the world!

What would you say to Hispanic youngsters interested in a career in education? 

Not to forget where they come from! Our culture and language need us!

Who was your biggest professional influence, and why?

Her name is Dr. Regina Carlow, she is the one who believed in me when I was in college when I was undecided.

Do you consciously consider yourself a role model for kids, particularly those of Hispanic descent?

Yes, I do, I can see how lots of those kids look up to me every day. I try to model what a good citizen looks like, more than anything, I show them respect and love.

Cristina Benitez De Luna, Principal, Los Padillas Elementary School

What led you to become an educator, and how has your Hispanic heritage influenced your career?

Cristina Benitez De Luna I became an educator because I saw a deep need in my community for students to have role models who share their background and experiences. As a first-generation Mexican-American, I understand the importance of seeing yourself reflected in the people around you, especially in positions of leadership and guidance. My heritage has always inspired me to give back, and I’m grateful for the many educators who supported me along the way. This inspired my passion for working with children, youth, and families like mine, ensuring they have the support and opportunities to achieve their goals.

What would you consider your finest moment in education?

I’ve been fortunate to experience many rewarding moments in education, but what stands out the most is when I’ve had the opportunity to connect deeply with students and their families. As a teacher, it was in those meaningful conversations with students, when they made personal connections to the content and saw its relevance in their own lives. As an administrator, my finest moments come when I’m able to support families through challenges, helping them navigate difficult situations. It’s in these personal connections where I feel I’ve made the greatest impact.

What would you say to Hispanic youngsters interested in a career in education?

I would tell Hispanic youngsters that pursuing a career in education is one of the most powerful ways to give back to our communities, to our gente. It’s an opportunity to serve as role models for future generations, showing them what’s possible and inspiring them to achieve their own goals. By becoming educators, we can create a lasting impact, helping to uplift and support others on their journeys, just as others have done for us.

Who was your biggest professional influence, and why?

My biggest professional influence was my first hiring principal, who opened the door to opportunities beyond the classroom. He showed me that teaching is not just about delivering content, but about building strong connections with students, families, and colleagues. His guidance taught me the importance of leading with students in mind, while always showing empathy and grace. He continuously pushed me to keep growing professionally, to embrace leadership roles, and to never stop striving for improvement. His mentorship shaped my perspective on education and leadership.

Do you consciously consider yourself a role model for kids, particularly those of Hispanic descent?

Yes, I do consciously consider myself a role model, especially for students of Hispanic descent. One of the key reasons I chose this career was to provide students with the representation I didn’t have growing up—seeing educators who look like them and share their experiences is powerful. I want students to feel seen and heard, and to know that their cultural background, language, and identity are strengths in their educational journey.

Milagro Tognoni, Bilingual Reading Interventionist, East San José Elementary

What led you to become an educator, and how has your Hispanic heritage influenced your career?

IMilagro Tognonin high school, I participated in a Youth-Tutoring-Youth Program. I was assigned to a middle school and worked with a female student in the 6th grade. Besides having some learning difficulties, she was born with fingers and toes that did not fully grow out. She was a pretty grumpy middle schooler who was also very aware of her differences. Our first weeks together were not easy or fun. However, time passed. We worked together every day for an hour. By the end of the year, we had become friends and I had helped her improve academically. The sponsor teacher at the school was grateful for my work. It was that work with that 6th grader that led me to think that teaching could be a possible career.

My first teaching job was at Washington Middle School. I had many first-time experiences there such as learning about a Dual Language program, watching kids perform Ballet Folklorico, listening to kids sing in Spanish, and getting to know a bilingual community. I was inspired to become more proficient in Spanish and learn more about my Hispanic heritage. Since those years, I have earned my bilingual teacher certification, traveled to Mexico, helped my own children learn Spanish, and, currently, help students build their reading skills in both English and Spanish. My Hispanic heritage has certainly helped me help more students!

What would you consider your finest moment in education?

My finest moment is any time an old student approaches me and tells me how I made a positive impact in their life. These moments are always unexpected and happen at totally random times, but they leave me feeling warm. Teaching can be so exhausting and it can make you feel like you didn't do enough for each child every year. It’s these encounters that remind you that you are enough.

What would you say to Hispanic youngsters interested in a career in education? 

I would tell Hispanic youngsters that a career in education has given me some great memories and a purpose for everyday life. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself at every stage. However, teaching is not simple nor is it easy. If you choose this path, you will be important to all students but especially those who look and sound like you. Also, there are so many ways to make an impact on a student’s life. Just be sure the choices you make will have a positive impact for your students.

Who was your biggest professional influence, and why?

Both my parents worked as educators and principals and were influential to me professionally. However, I spent so many hours in my mom’s classroom before I became a teacher. My mom was born to teach. Her ability to befriend a student then help them grow academically seemed like magic to me. When I finally got my own classroom, I was even more impressed at how easy she was able to work with children and get families to support her. In addition, my mom also looked for ways to improve her craft. She never hesitated to continue growing as a teacher.

Do you consciously consider yourself a role model for kids, particularly those of Hispanic descent?

I do consciously consider myself a role model for kids. I find myself looking to support students of Hispanic descent but who have been in the U.S. for many generations. These students are usually learning Spanish as a second language. They can feel uncomfortable. They know they are not proficient. Since I started learning Spanish later in my school career, I know the feelings they are experiencing. I try to model that making mistakes is OK. I try to model perseverance. I try to model pride in my culture and language.

Carolina Gonzales, Mariachi Teacher Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, George I. Sanchez Collaborative Community School

What led you to become an educator, and how has your Hispanic heritage influenced your career?

Carolina GonzalesMy mother was a bilingual educator. I grew up watching my mother be everyone’s favorite teacher. As a kid, I watched her get her master’s degree in bilingual education and study a summer semester in Mexico. She taught ESL classes in the evening to the parents of

 her students. Every year she taught her students a Mexican dance for Cinco De Mayo. I saw how much she gave of herself to her predominantly Hispanic school community. I witnessed the power she had to uplift people. I watched her advocate for the most vulnerable population of migrant students. I knew from a very early age that teachers made a significant difference in hundreds of people’s lives.

My father’s mother, from Coahuila, had a love for music that she instilled in all her children and insisted they all have piano lessons. Unfortunately, she died while my father was very young. My father made sure all of his children had access to a music education to continue her legacy. My brothers and sisters and I played instruments in a band like Selena Quintanilla and her brother and sister. I grew up playing Cubias and Rancheras on the keyboard. When the orchestra teacher came to our school in 5th grade to recruit children, I desperately wanted to play the violin. I asked my father, and he at first told me no. The following Sunday at church, there was a mariachi playing at mass with a young lady playing the violin. I told my dad, “Buy me a violin and I will be like her.” The next day he bought me a violin. 

There was no mariachi in my school, so I joined the school orchestra and went on to study music education at Boise State University. I loved studying music but I always felt something was missing. It was hard keeping up with other music students who had taken private lessons their whole life and could afford expensive instruments. I had all but forgotten about my ambition to be a mariachi because there was zero representation of Mexican music in my classical training.

During my sophomore year at Boise State, I ran into a mariachi outside of a church after a baptism mass I attended. I luckily had my violin with me and asked the mariachi if I could join and they said YES! They invited me to the rest of their gigs that evening. I knew then and there that playing Mariachi music was going to be my life. I never felt so proud to be of Mexican descent and I finally found the missing piece to my identity. I wanted to give other students, like me, who loved music but needed something with some cultural relevance, somewhere to learn about music and their cultural identity. It was my dream to be a mariachi educator and I get to live that dream every day.

What would you consider your finest moment in education?

My finest moment in my education career was being nominated for the APS Education Foundation Best In Class and then going on to win 1st Place. It highlighted my work with my students through news pieces and even a little commercial of my students and me. We worked so hard getting our community to vote for us. I was even able to secure seats for every student to attend the gala dinner to accept the prize of $15,000. Mariachi education was at the center of attention for all of APS for those weeks of voting. I get the honor of being on the short list of Best In Class Alumni and I always try to use that title to advance mariachi education every chance I can. From advocating for more mariachi programs, popping into my colleague's classrooms to help, and by taking my own students to perform around the city, I work to uplift and inspire all APS mariachi educators and students that we can do anything we put our minds to and more.

What would you say to Hispanic youngsters interested in a career in education?

Education is one of the few careers in which you have the power to change someone’s life. If you are a Hispanic student thinking of college, then you have already figured out what it takes to navigate the academic world. To do that, you had to learn how to “translanguage” and code switch and you had to learn how to work with teachers and other students who do not share your culture. As an educator, you can open the doors for more children to follow in your footsteps. Children do not always see Hispanic educators, especially in music education. You can represent someone who made it as proof that they can also do it too. Children need you to represent academic success. In teaching Hispanic children how to navigate academia, you can heal yourself of all the struggles you went through by watching them succeed on an easier path. It is worth every effort to uplift the next generations of Hispanic students. It will make our communities stronger for years to come.

Who was your biggest professional influence, and why?

My biggest professional influence has been my mentor teacher during my student teacher who also stayed as my mentor for all of my formative young teacher years. That is Gloria Velasco, a retired APS orchestra teacher. She has received the New Mexico Outstanding Orchestra Teacher Award from the American String Teachers’ Association and the New Mexico Music Teacher Emeritus Award from the New Mexico Music Educators’ Association. I watched her be a kind and loving teacher with very high standards and no tolerance for anything but the student's best. She used her advanced training and extraordinary musicianship to make stellar instruction accessible to so many children regardless of socioeconomic status. She was able to deliver that instruction with lots of love and expected students to have discipline, grit, and greatness. She took me under her wing because she knew as a Hispanic woman, she needed to give me a leg up. She taught me everything I know about being a great teacher. If it wasn’t for her agreeing to be my cooperating teacher, I would never have made it through UNM Music Ed. I am so grateful every day for the opportunities she provided for me. I am the teacher I am today because she graciously gave her knowledge, experience, and compassion to me when I needed it the most. I try to pay that generosity forward to every teacher and student I work with.

My biggest mariachi educator influence is Mr. John Nieto of San Antonio, Texas. He is such a knowledgeable teacher teaching at Brackenridge HS since 1990. It has always been a struggle to balance teaching so many different mariachi instruments in one class. His curriculum has an answer to every problem in mariachi education and his generosity to share his knowledge is evident in every class I teach. His new book, “Habits of a Successful Mariachi Musico” is in my hands 90% of my day. His contributions to mariachi education inspire me to be a better teacher. 

Do you consciously consider yourself a role model for kids, particularly those of Hispanic descent?

I have had the honor of hosting a student teacher who was a member of the second graduating class that graduated from Atrisco Heritage Academy. That young man is now my APS Fine Arts colleague teaching at Carlos Rey Elementary School. I know many more students leave my program and keep performing with college mariachis at UNM and WNMU and I have the privilege of watching them perform as adults. I would like to think that my passion for mariachi and my dedication to the music profession was a model for them to imitate and stay in the performing arts.

 For the students who may not pursue music after high school, I am a reflection of those strong Hispanic women they have in their own homes. I hope they can take how much I love my students and how much time I invest in them and the communities I serve and pay that forward and invest in themselves, their families, and their other passions.

Moises Padilla, Principal, Van Buren Middle School

What led you to become an educator, and how has your Hispanic heritage influenced your career?

Moises PadillaBorn, raised, and living in the South Valley of Albuquerque, I have fostered a lifelong passion for education, social justice, and equality for my community. I started my career as a teacher in the same middle school that I attended as a child – Polk Middle School. I wanted to further understand why of my peer group of six friends was I the only one to graduate high school, let alone go to college. The more I understood the organizational, political, and structural inequalities that our school systems play the more I have worked to deploy education as a process of progressive social change. Experiencing firsthand how urban and poor communities are exposed to social instability from violence, hunger, poverty, and racism I understand how returning home and tackling these problems with hope, love, and inspiration can build thriving sustainable communities. Coming from a Chicano background helped me realize the importance of familia and comunidad, and felt a strong sense of responsibility to uplift my community by supporting the next generation. Becoming a teacher was a way to give back and provide students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, with the tools to succeed.

What would you consider your finest moment in education?

My finest moment as an educator has been the privilege of working in the South Valley and International District of Albuquerque, where I grew up. Being able to teach the children of my neighbors and contribute to the very community that shaped me has been an incredibly rewarding experience. There’s a deep sense of pride in seeing familiar faces, knowing that I’m helping to nurture the next generation within the same environment that fostered my own growth. The connection with families and the opportunity to give back to a place that means everything to me.

What would you say to Hispanic youngsters interested in a career in education?

To the Hispanic youth aspiring to a career in education, know that you have a powerful opportunity to make a lasting impact on future generations. As an educator, you can bring your cultural values of family and community into the classroom, creating a supportive and inclusive environment where all students feel seen and valued. Your heritage is a strength — your bilingualism, your understanding of diverse experiences, and your commitment to family can help bridge gaps and build strong relationships with students and families. By choosing this path, you’re not only giving back to your community but also becoming a role model for those who share your background. The values you hold dear will shape the way you teach, inspire, and uplift voices such as your own.

Who was your biggest professional influence, and why?

Two of my biggest professional influences as an educator have been Ms. Sophia Martinez and Ms. Glenabah Martinez from Rio Grande High School. Their dedication to social justice, advocacy, and strong connections to our community profoundly shaped my approach to teaching. They consistently emphasized the importance of ensuring that our place in the world was reflected in the classroom, making every student feel seen and valued. Beyond that, they had a unique way of making us feel like we were somebody—that our voices and experiences mattered. Their influence taught me how powerful it is to uplift students by honoring their identities and making them feel proud of where they come from.

Do you consciously consider yourself a role model for kids, particularly those of Hispanic descent?

I don’t personally consider myself a role model but I do understand that my representation as a school leader matters. Personal experiences with inspiring teachers or mentors can drive individuals toward education. For our Hispanic students, this often includes being motivated by teachers who understood their cultural background or helped them navigate the challenges of our community, being bilingual, or first-generation status.

Ricky Gallegos, Re-Director / Educational Assistant, Lew Wallace Elementary School

What led you to become an educator, and how has your Hispanic heritage influenced your career? 

Ricky Gallegos

“Education is #1” was the famous quote my dad would tell my siblings and me before his passing in 2005. Growing up in a Hispanic single-parent household, there was always criticism that we would never be successful, and people would pity us for not having the same opportunities as others. My mom always made sure we kept true to my dad’s wisdom and never gave up our education. When I was 5 years old, I sat my youngest brother, Christopher, down and played a game called “Teacher” where I made sure he learned every fundamental skill he needed before entering kindergarten. Let alone when he began his academic journey with APS, my brother scored above proficient than the rest of his kinder peers in writing and reading due to my teachings. When my mom broke that news to me, she told me instantly that I would become an educator who teaches from the heart and close the gap on children needing a father figure.

What would you consider your finest moment in education?

Back in 2021, in the fall, Anne-Marie Strangio, then the principal of Lew Wallace Elementary School, came to me and asked if I would be interested in teaching a group of students who were having struggles personally in their lives. 

At that moment, I felt unworthy as I thought maybe Ms. Strangio had the wrong person. When I asked Ms. Strangio, “Why me?” she stated that I had an aura that could lift the students to a higher opportunity. When I transferred to Lew Wallace from Longfellow, I quickly began working with the students and getting to know them. It was our first session when they mentioned that no one knew what they were going through; that was when I simply looked around and asked them to raise their hands if they thought Mr. Ricky was raised by a double-parent household or a single-parent household. The whole class raised for the double-parent household part, and that was when I pulled them together and mentioned my life. I did not do it to excuse how they feel; I mentioned my life because, as a young 22-year-old Hispanic male, I felt their pain and knew exactly what they went through. In education, it is not about who had it rough; It is about being that lighthouse you can guide them to success and hear them out. Shortly after that conversation, their behaviors decreased, academic success increased, and their parents noticed it and simply responded “Thank You.” 

It was not long after that class when Golden Apple knocked on my door asking if I would be a part of changing New Mexico’s Educational History. I joined Golden Apple for my students because I wanted them to know that if I could do it, they could do it. I wanted to keep my father’s legacy alive and the hard work my mom put in for us to be successful continue. 

What would you say to Hispanic youngsters interested in a career in education?

I would re-quote a famous line by my grandmother Agapita Cordova: “Primeramente Dios, cuando una Puerta Cerra, Dios abrirá Diez mas”. Meaning, first, God, when one door closes, God will open 10 more. That quote means that just because one door closes, do not give up. Ten more will open, and when they open, you will find success in your dream. You are the beginning to the end for every student; they will look to you as their role model, their father/mother figure. The road may be long and hard, yes, but I promise you that when the first student gifts you with their love and appreciation that means you are doing something right.

Who was your biggest professional influence, and why?

I had so many, but I would say that coach Ruben Tellez from Portales, New Mexico, changed my life for the better. When I began entering my teenage years, he reminded me of the choices I had to make and re-install the wisdom of my dad and my mom’s hard work to open my eyes. I remember he stood up in the classroom and simply looked to me and told everyone about his personal life and how it is OK to be blindsided but to always wake up and re-open our eyes.

After he had that conversation with us, I called my mom crying and telling her sorry for being rebellious. After that, I felt a shift in my journey and wanted to be the Coach T to all other students.

Do you consciously consider yourself a role model for kids, particularly those of Hispanic descent? 

That is a bit of an understatement as I didn’t change the students, they changed me. We are in this together and have built a strong bond where we can learn from each other. That is the important thing about Education; we are in this together. After sitting back and seeing each student I have worked with achieve their goals, I would say “Gracias a Dios por darme la mayor bendición que es enseñar a los alumnos y continuar con su gloria.” 

Otilio Ruiz, First Grade teacher and music instructor, Coronado Elementary School

What led you to become an educator, and how has your Hispanic heritage influenced your career?

Otilio RuizI came from a family of educators but I think what brought me to this field here in New Mexico is the lack of connection of our Latino students with our culture, community and their identity.

What would you consider your finest moment in education?

There are so many but I think when I was volunteering at the Juvenile Detention Center here in Albuquerque and I discovered that many gifted Latino students were there because something was missing in our schools. 

What would you say to Hispanic youngsters interested in a career in education? 

This a career where you have the opportunity to make a change in the future of our communities. This is an amazing career.

Who was your biggest professional influence, and why?

My father was the principal of my elementary school, but I think my mom – she did not know how to read and write until she met my dad. She was my biggest inspiration. She passed when she was 35 and I was 11.

Do you consciously consider yourself a role model for kids, particularly those of Hispanic descent?

 I am trying to be a person my students can trust and feel safe, especially our Latino students who are trying to find their place in this country.