The Fun of Teaching

By Daniela R.

Description: A YB teacher explains her path on how she got to where she is today and about many unique experiences. 

Susan Chavarria, a French and Spanish teacher explains her struggles and the growth she has received while being at YB.

At the beginning of her career, Ms.chavarria wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her major at first. But then she decided that she wanted to become a social worker. But for some reason she was not accepted into the job of being a social worker. 

Chavarria:  “i'm not really sure what i'm doing with my bachelors degree in spanish and french and i should probably do something more” and i applied for social work initially but for some reason i didn't get accepted and i was just dismayed and it made me think “ wow maybe i should return to finishing my credential” 

But once she got her teaching credential, she started searching for jobs. She first started at piedmont high school, but that school didn't allow her to teach french. It was until she came to YB where she was able to use her french major. 

Chavarria:”I really like the school and this is the first school where I was able to teach French so that was like a dream come true and that really has helped my teaching.”

Along with teaching French and Spanish, she also encourages students to join her sewing club in which many students join to learn a new skill. 

Chavarria: “it's a good connection to share an interest in a skill that's useful and crafty and it’s a useful semi art form”

She has lots of experience from sewing since she has learned it ever since she was a little kid and she hopes to inspire kids now too.

Chavarria: “I started that as a child. I was about 8 years old and I had one grandmother that’s sewing machine I own now at home and she really encouraged me to sew and that’s my dad’s mom but my moms mom gave me my first little sewing kit so from both sides I was encouraged to sew and so I started quite young”

She has experienced a welcoming feeling at YB, so since Ms.chavarria has been teaching at YB for the last four years,  she plans on staying at YB for a couple of more years if her path continues as it is going. 

Chavarria: “Possibly. I wouldn't go anywhere else at this point.”

She dreams of becoming a more proficient teacher in the future and learning even more useful skills. It wasn't always easy for her to get a job. She had a major in French and Spanish but she was using her major in a more clerical field and that wasn't bringing a lot of money for her to support her family. But in the end the education system was what helped her the most. 

Chavarria: “The working world and my major was spanish and french, double major, and that was useful but when it comes to an actual career i was using it in a clerical field and it wasn't giving me a lot of money to try and support my family so just being practical was one of my struggles and i am very glad i chose teaching rather than being a social worker”

Even though there are a lot of struggles with being a teacher. There are also a lot of good times and memories that Chavarria recalls. She continues to learn new things every day since she gets to see a variety of talents from her students. 

Chavarria:  “The best part of being a teacher is being able to work with students that have so much of their own talent and their own knowledge and the fact that I get to be in an environment where I am also learning each day.”

Chavarria has had a lot of fun while teaching her students a different variety of skills. She explains her philosophy on teaching after many years of teaching. 

Chavarria:  “Hopefully we get to teach something that we really love”  “just to enjoy knowing that we're helping students gain more knowledge about something that they need.”