Despite it being her first year on campus, newly hired English teacher Valerie Quiroga is dedicated to teaching her English knowledge to her students.
“The way I plan and organize my lessons is based on what standards I want to meet and what learning targets are for the semester,” Quiroga said. “I want to focus on what’s going on in the world currently and how I can promote and relate it to the curriculum.”
After the transfer of the previous English teacher, Quiroga, who formerly taught at St. John Baptist De La Salle, filled in the vacant teacher position in the English department at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS). This year, she’s teaching 10th grade English, 10th grade Honors English, modern literature and AP English Language and Composition. Even though the school year has barely begun, Quiroga has enjoyed her time teaching at DPMHS so far.
“It’s been good,” Quiroga said. “I’m really excited. I’ve met a lot of students and kind of got to see how each class has their own personality.”
Although Quiroga has always had an interest in teaching, being an English teacher wasn’t something she was initially interested in. Instead, she wanted to pursue a career in biology and become a zoo educator since she never found a liking to English, especially through her high school years. However, she realized during her college years that she was good at teaching English and even enjoyed it, which ultimately made her decide to switch majors halfway through her second year of college.
“I always loved reading,” Quiroga said. “I just didn’t like the work I did in high school, which kind of pushed me to become an English teacher. I realized I could be teaching kids material that is not boring and instead engaging.”
Besides getting to work with new students, Quiroga is also excited to work alongside her best friend, English teacher Francesca Gunther, who recommended Quiroga teach at DPMHS and take on the open position. Gunther and Qurioga met through a mutual friend and instantly bonded over their love of shared interests that quickly led them to become each other’s best friends and eventually work together as English teachers.
“It’s really fun to work with your best friend,” Quiroga said. “We have a lot of respect for each other and it’s really nice to be able to go to someone who’s just very kind and willing to help.”
This year, Quiroga is dedicated to spreading a positive impact in the classroom to her students and sharing her love for English. Through lesson plans to engage students in her classes, she ultimately hopes to teach and be able to have fun.
“My primary goal is to have students at least develop a liking for literature,” Quiroga said. “It doesn’t mean you have to love it but at least some enjoyment with some kind of text and also be able to understand the different ways we have communicated with each other writing historically and even now.”
