Ad A rely Trejo

ROAD TO BISHOP DUNNE: Trejo says she was introduced into the Catholic school system “kind of forcefully.”

Her parents emigrated from Mexico, so when she began grade school she didn’t have a Social Security number.

“I had my passport and my visa, but I didn’t have a Social. So the public school system didn’t allow me to attend school.”

Trejo attended St. Cecilia, where she graduated valedictorian and was offered a scholarship to attend Bishop Dunne.

ScHOOl DAyS: As a student, Trejo observed that Bishop Dunne was a “family-oriented atmosphere.” She found a support system to help her achieve goals as a student. Trejo was the first generation college-bound woman in her family.

THE jOURNEy BAck: After graduating from Notre Dame, Trejo participated in the Alliance for Catholic Education program. The two-year service program allows college graduates to work as full-time teachers at under-resourced Catholic schools in the southwest United States.

She was sent to San Antonio, where she taught fourth-graders.

“I really enjoyed it, but for me it was time to come back to Dallas,” she says.

She talked to the Bishop Dunne principal at the time about openings and was able to return to teach.

“Coming back here was like coming back home,” she says.

WHAT’S cHANgED: When Trejo tells her students she attended Bishop Dunne, they’re always interested in her experience as a student. She tells the students about the differences in uniforms and how they have more choices now.

Trejo says alumni returning to work at the school help students feel more support.

“It speaks to the greatness that is Bishop Dunne, that it’s not only said in words but in action,” she says.

RElATINg TO TEAcHERS: Trejo had kept in touch with several of her high school teachers while in college, which made coming back to the school as a teacher easier.

“I did have family right there next door, whether it be a teacher I had in the past or a teacher that had just come into Bishop Dunne. We were all working together for the better of our students,” she says.

FAMIly cONNEcTION: Trejo’s niece attends Bishop Dunne’s early childhood center, and her cousin, who attends the school, is a student in one of her classes. Trejo says she treats him as she does the rest of her students.

“As his teacher, as his cousin, I’m helping him, igniting him to achieve to the very best of his ability in his studies while here in school.”