About

I, GS, am a Latina teacher. I have a degree in Elementary Education from Eastern Illinois University. During my time at Eastern, I helped Professor Yunus with undergraduate research on Hispanic students. I’m currently teaching 3rd grade at Edison Elementary School in Berwyn, Illinois. Berwyn has a high Latin/Hispanic population, so I work with English as a Second Language students (ESLs) and English Language Learners (ELLs).

I am the daughter of an immigrant. My mother was born and raised in Panama. My father, a white American, served as Peace Corps volunteer in Panama where he met and married my mother. Obviously, I am mixed, but having tan skin, dark eyes, and dark hair makes me look more Latina than white.

My parents and I embarked on our 2-year journey as missionaries in Mexico just six months after I came into this world. Thus, I spoke Spanish first. As we lived among some indigenous people in Mexico, I spoke Chinanteco second, and from lack of exposure, I no longer know that language. We relocated to the United States in the year 2001 and with that came my third and dominant language of English. I am fluent in both English and Spanish, but I use English more regularly.

I lived in Costa Rica for several months in 2013 when my parents attained jobs there, and we soon moved back to my hometown of Danville, IL where I lived most of my life. We make frequent trips to Panama to visit my mother’s large side of the family there, almost all of whom don’t speak a lick of English.