Ms. Paulina Velasquez was born in the 1990s and, not surprisingly, she enjoys reading and discussing literature, but also cooking. This is her first year at Glendale High School as an English teacher, and it is her third year working in education.
Ms. Velasquez started her teaching career as a long-term substitute at the Ventura Unified School District. Then she spent the past two years teaching at Crescenta Valley High School.
Before finding her way to GHS, Ms. Velasquez majored in English at CalPoly Pomona for her undergraduate degree. She also fell into education through the AVID program.
Before working in education, Ms. Velasquez worked in customer service, which helped her with her public speaking skills. She later started teaching, because she is fond of working with people, and she believes teenagers are fun, entertaining, and have great ideas. (She also takes delight in forcing her students to hear her thoughts on books!)
Furthermore, Ms. Velasquez believes that all students should have strong public speaking skills, as learning to talk to crowds and communicating ideas properly, is vital for all young people. She notes that the most valuable training she received for a job, or for any moment in her life, was in customer service because it helped her talk to large groups of people and properly communicate with others.
Unsurprisingly, Ms. Velasquez loves reading and analyzing literature with friends, or even by herself. Besides her obvious love of books, she is also a foodie, who enjoys the chaos of cooking and trying out new foods.
As she is finishing her first quarter at GHS, so far Ms. Velasquez is “more than happy” to stay and continue her career on our campus. She feels that the staff are welcoming, and the students here are both fun to work with and hard-working when it comes to learning.
If Ms. Velasquez could recommend one book for everybody to read, it would be the graphic novel Maus, written by Art Spiegelman, who is the son of Holocaust survivors. This book shows how quickly everything politically developed in Germany in the 1930s. Maus offers a new perspective on how we are a part of a larger story that came before us, and how we will contribute to the story that will come after us.
If you are looking to read something on a lighter side, Ms. Velasquez suggests The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by the late Douglas Adams, which is a fun, shorter book. It can be read in under three days, even if you aren’t an avid reader like other people.
Overall, Ms. Velazquez is loving GHS so far. She thinks that students here are excited to say they’re Nitros and love representing their school. She’s happy to be a part of our community, and her students have been kind and willing to put in the work (and we haven’t run her out quite yet). She’s also thankful for the GHS staff members, who have been helpful in her first year adjusting as a new teacher.
