Glendale High School is proud to welcome the teachers and staff who are teaching here for the first time! Today, we meet our new Spanish teacher, Ms. Kristina Carbajal. Even though she taught here as a student teacher last year under Sra. Alma Yong, this is her first year teaching solo at Glendale High School.

Ms. Carbajal was born in Los Angeles and grew up in West Covina, where she spent her whole childhood. Her father was a special education teacher at a high school in LAUSD, and her mother was an elementary teacher. This had a big influence on her decision to become a teacher. She mentioned that she’s always “had a love for learning since I grew up in a household where both of my parents are educators.” She has known from a young age that teaching was something she wanted to pursue. 

Ms. Carbajal taught preschool for seven years, and even though the “preschool age was fun”, she decided to become a high school teacher. She noted that clearly, “there is a big difference between preschool and high school”, but she’s enjoyed both levels. However, she enjoys the maturity that comes from high school students. 

Ms. Carbajal chose to become a world language teacher because of a great teacher she had in high school. This person was “an amazing teacher who made me love learning how to speak Spanish, and that was something I wanted to pass down to future generations.” Ms. Carbajal’s goal is to inspire and help others to perfect or learn the Spanish language. 

Ms. Carbajal also chose to teach Spanish, specifically because she comes from a Latino background and loves her culture. But since she was “raised in a household where English was a dominant language,” she “wanted to learn and perfect my Spanish.” 

Thankfully, Glendale High School students and the staff have kindly welcomed Ms. Carbajal to her new home. Her students have “built a nice bond, like a small community,” and she is excited for this year and hopefully the many years that are to come.

If there is a main message that Ms. Carbajal would like to share with her students, it would be to stop worrying about “drama, or worrying about fitting in with other people.” She said that these “subjects seem like they matter a lot, and sometimes it feels like the end of the world when we have problems.” But she wants to reassure young people that a lot of these things that happen to us in high school “won’t matter in five years from now, so try to enjoy your high school years.” 

Ms. Carbajal also encourages her students to join new clubs, to meet new people, and to never stop learning. 

So please help us welcome our new Spanish teacher, Nitros!