Teachers play a pivotal role in shaping the lives of students worldwide. The guidance of teachers allows for students to gain needed knowledge and build critical learning skills.
The Capistrano Unified School District highlights teachers district wide, recognizing their impacts and hard work via a ceremony.
A large honor at this ceremony is the awarding of “Teacher Of The Year” whom Aliso Niguel High School has honored to Ms. Villasenor.
Ms. Villasenor has been involved in the teaching world at Aliso Niguel for over ten years, starting student teaching in 2007 and shortly moving into a full time teacher.
Villasenor focuses on english subjects, having taught courses such as: E.L.D., English 1, English 1 Honors, English 2 and English 3. She has also spent time as an instructor for Aliso’s iPad Academy, which guided students into learning courses with technology prior to COVID-19.
With a Bachelor’s Degree from San Luis Obispo, Ms. Villasenor found the passion to teach from an early age.
“My approach to teaching weaves together the vital elements of connection, engagement and compassion in a way that transforms the classroom into a vibrant learning community,” shares Ms. Villasenor.
By integrating new forms of teaching, Ms. Villasenor is able to find connections with every student in a unique way.
Ms. Villasenor’s enthusiasm and passion makes her a teacher whose class gets every student excited to attend. Her bubbly-upbeat personality also allows comfort to students, allowing for personable connections and trust to grow within the classroom.
Kathryn Gecu-Klaus, a freshman enrolled in Ms. Villasenor’s Honors English 1 course, shares, “Ms. Villasenor always wants to help her students whenever they need it. She always supports the clubs, sports, or any extracurriculars her students do. She also creates personal bonds with her students making the class more fun and special in its own way.”
With immense connections with every student she teaches, Ms. Villasenor impacts every single one of her students lives for the better.
Ms. Villasenor goes above and beyond for everyone in and out of her classroom. By opening up opportunities for clubs to host meetings in her class, to even staying additional times during her lunches and afterschool to help students, Ms. Villasenor is an example of a teacher who cares for her school.
Ms. Villasenor also finds purpose within her lessons, linking everyday issues and world-wide issues into her teaching.
“I strive to integrate local issues into our curriculum, thus enabling students to connect learning with the real-world challenges,” she shares.
By incorporating a new way of teaching and finding connections students can relate to, Ms. Villasenor establishes an open teaching method that enables young minds.
Being a teacher can mean a lot of different things. On paper they are defined as an educator who teaches purely the curriculum. But truly, a teacher is one who guides student education mentally and emotionally, all of which Ms. Villasenor encapsulates.
“The rewards of teaching are abundant and deeply fulfilling. There is nothing quite like the moment when a student grasps a challenging concept or when their confidence begins to shine through. Witnessing a student’s growth–both academically and personally–is a reminder of why I became an educator,” she shares.
These small moments, interactions and memories are what build a good teacher and is why Ms. Villasenor was deemed Aliso Niguel High School’s Teacher Of The Year.
