For as long as I can remember, molding little minds has been my calling. April of 2021, I began substituting for FISD. Westwood Elementary quickly stood out to me and became my place to sub. I remember telling myself that if I could work in an environment such as this, then I would love my job even more. Seeing the interpersonal relationships between staff and students made myself, as an outsider, come in feeling welcomed and loved. In my last year of schooling at the University of Houston Clearlake, I had to complete my student teaching hours in a classroom. I became hopeful that I would be able to student teach at Westwood Elementary.
Fast forward to fall of 2021, I was blessed with the opportunity to complete my student teaching hours at Westwood with an amazing mentor, Tena Roher. I wish I had the proper words to explain the gift she was to me. Not only did she take me under her wing but so did the entire kindergarten team. I remember telling my internship group how lucky I was to be at a school where you felt seen, valued, and cared for by all staff. Student teaching taught me many things, but the biggest take away was how impactful relationships can be on each individual child who steps inside of our classroom. Not only are we teaching students academic and life skills inside of the classroom, but we are becoming a part of their world by attending extracurricular activities such as baseball games and dance recitals. I have learned that teaching is much more than developing the academic minds of children. It is also molding and modeling how to build strong relationships.
After student teaching, I was then blessed to be hired onto Westwood staff. As a new teacher, you begin to plan what your new classroom will be filled with such as decorating, prepping and all things laminating to make it feel loved and homey. I was quickly reminded two days before I would welcome students into my classroom the reason why I chose FISD. A change of rooms had to happen the Saturday before the first week of school began and I thought to myself, “How and with what help?” As a new teacher, this is everyone’s nightmare! I was IMMEDIATELY filled with support and love by my mentor, her family, ALL of Westwood staff, Admin and others who rallied behind me and helped me room swap two days before school. Seeing my mentor, whom I was blessed to learn from, cancel her Saturday game night with her family and bring them along to help reconstruct my new room is why I believe modeling strong relationships is so important. It is the relationships that we build that help us become better and stronger people. I am blessed beyond measure to say that my room looks better than it did before and is filled with so much love and joy from all of the hands of the people who love and care for me. It is so surreal that I am living out my calling as a kindergarten teacher here at Westwood elementary. I felt honored to be a part of a district that stands firm in its Call to Action.
-Julissa Moreno, Westwood Kindergarten Teacher
