Carlos Chavez teaches Spanish and history at Albuquerque's Rio Grande High School. For students to "grow socially and academically," says Mr. Chavez , educators must "respect students as individuals, and give relevance to their language and culture." The multi-cultural classroom presents a particular challenge, according to Mr. Chavez; he states that "it would be a fallacy to presume that students are all of one mind." Mr. Chavez credits his own upbringing in a bilingual household for preparing him to be an effective teacher within a bilingual community. The United States and world history courses that he teaches in Spanish place particular emphasis on Hispanic contributions to the making of these histories. Mr. Chavez hopes that in his career as an educator, he will have made a significant contribution to the development and advancement of bilingual education. He would like to see more teachers certified to teach Content Area in Spanish. In the near future, Mr. Chavez would like to participate in the development of a language institute that is dedicated to the creation of a Spanish language curriculum.
University of New Mexico, B.A.
