Ms. Lillian Castel De Oro is a new English Language Development teacher this year at Glendale High School. Although this is her first year teaching ELD, she had previously taught English for sixteen years. 

Before she came to GHS, Ms. Castel De Oro was a teacher at Apex Academy, which recently closed. She then chose to teach at our school, as she lives within the area. 

In her free time, Ms. Castel De Oro likes to hoop dance and read, and she recently got into reading fantasy novels, which has been a change from her usual preference for high literature. As of now, she enjoys easy reading; “candy, in the form of literature,” she says. Although many people might not know much about the signs of the zodiac, her whole chart is made up of mainly Aries, and one other water sign. 

Ms. Castel De Oro’s favorite part about being an educator is that she enjoys teaching kids who have the desire to learn, are receptive to getting feedback, and want to improve in their language skills. She prefers learning more about her students, and she hopes to find out “who they are as people,” because “that’s going to come out over time as the year goes on.”

Ms. Castel De Oro’s biggest piece of advice for students is to seriously consider less phone usage. Phones offer an easy access to dopamine, which causes imbalances. High dopamine levels may eventually lead to depression and anxiety, due to overexposure. 

“Dopamine is the big one, and we have so much access to it, and we can get it whenever we want,” she said. “The brain wants to be in equilibrium, so if I push down on dopamine, which is pleasure, then what the brain does afterwards is [that] it pushes down on pain, so it can even itself out.” 

This tragic cycle may continue on and on inside our heads. And Ms. Castel De Oro heard this information originally from a podcast called Hidden Brain, in an episode named “The Paradox of Pleasure”. 

Ms. Castel Del Oro isn’t a very goal-oriented person, but instead she prefers to have her own mantra, like a little saying. She said, “My mantra is [to] leave it better than you found it, anywhere, whatever it is.” 

Ms. Castel De Oro is also currently the advisor for the Class of 2027, so if you have any questions for her, there are Freshman Class Council meetings in Room 2239 every Tuesday.

Welcome to GHS, Ms. Castel De Oro!