Remembering our first years in school often brings up memories of friends, favorite teachers and fun moments on campus, but for Veronica Quintero, the first years of school brought nerves and uneasiness. “SCHOOL WAS DIFFICULT FOR ME AT FIRST. I didn’t know English and remember asking to use
the restroom, and my teacher did not understand me,” says Quintero. “Experiences like that made me turn inward, and I didn’t want to participate in class or ask for help because I thought that the teachers were going to be upset with me.” Quintero, a native of Brownsville, Texas, is now a fourth grade writing teacher at IDEA Riverview, which sits only a few yards from the border. She recalls the moment she thought school just wasn’t for her because of the communication difficulty she faced in the classroom.
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IMPACT WINTER 2020
