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George Acosta
Geneviève DeBose
Joy Kraft-Watts
Nate Monley Maurice
Rabb Andrew
Glass
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George
Acosta, 31, Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, CA George is on a mission. She leads by example on how to stand up for what is right and make a difference in society. When the funds for her 11th grade English as a Second Language (ESL) class are threatened, she rallies her students. They join her and speak out at a local school board meeting. Their subsequent victory teaches them that they can make a difference. As a Latina, George connects to her multi-ethnic students who struggle to learn English. She prepares them to be integrated into English speaking classes and her hope is that they will continue on to college. Hometown Born in Montebello, California. Raised in Whittier, Apple Valley and Rancho Cucamonga. What do you teach? 11th Grade English and ESL. Why and how did you become a teacher? It just seemed like destiny. The doors kept opening, one after the other, and each door was leading me in the same direction – to teaching. I didn't want to be a teacher at first because I knew it would be an uphill battle. I had graduated from college with an English degree. The logical way to make a living at first was to teach. As soon as I started tutoring, I realized that I liked the kids a lot. I got into the UCLA teacher education program and my first job was teaching English to Korean kids. Working in ESL came naturally to me. It was a good fit. What did you encounter in your first year of teaching? A lot of times it was frustrating because it was hard to see my effect on the kids. I wondered if I was making a difference. It was also difficult to push and motivate the class too. I had to constantly stay on them. There was one student who had taken my class the first year. I thought I had failed with him. He moved to another school and I hadn't seen him for while. One day he came into my class and asked if he could stay there. He had a day off from his new school and wanted to be in my class. He stayed the entire day. I realized that I had reached him. It was a powerful moment for me to feel appreciated and valued as a teacher. After The First Year George worked at UCLA with one of her former professors. He was a mentor who had helped her shape her philosophy of teaching. They worked together on an initiative to help give access and equity to students in urban schools. George returned to teach at Santa Monica High School where she started an after-school college course. The course targets African American and Latin students and gives them access to college curriculums. You can email George at: ggacosta@hotmail.com (return to top) |
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 56k 220k George on her background 56k 220k George on UCLA |
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© 2001 Teachers Documentary Project, Inc. |
