MEMBER PROFILE Jorge Valenzuela found empowerment in becoming an education advocate.
Jorge Valenzuela He found his purpose as a national education advocate By Nicole Krueger
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EMPOWERED LEARNER
Working as an instructional specialist in Richmond, Virginia, Jorge Valenzuela knew his mission was to help other educators elevate their work. But it wasn’t until he spoke in front of the U.S. Senate that he discovered his purpose in life. In 2017, not long after participating in an expert panel for the Senate’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, he got a call from the office of Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) asking for a statement to include in a press release about the CTE Excellence and Equity Act, a bill to help fund more relevant CTE courses in high schools. “At that moment, I thought perhaps my work was meant for more than what I thought it was,” Valenzuela says. Since then, his career has veered off in unexpected directions. Now an education coach and adjunct professor for Old Dominion University’s Department of STEM Education & Professional Studies, Valenzuela continues to travel to Washington, D.C., every year to advocate for educators and students.
“Going to Washington makes me realize I have a purpose. I was inspired by visiting Washington and realizing that people there need educators to tell them about what’s happening in the classroom. Otherwise, they won’t know how to allocate funding,” he says. “It was empowering.” Growing up an English language learner in the New York foster system, Valenzuela felt like he didn’t have many talents in life. But he did have teachers who drew out his academic inclination and motivated him to work hard in school. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in computer software engineering, scoring a contract for a networking job with an IT firm. When his favorite auntie suggested he’d make a good teacher instead, he decided to try his hand at summer school. “When I went into the classroom on the very first day and stood up in front of the kids, I felt like I belonged there. I felt like I was meant to be a teacher,” he says. At first it seemed he’d been destined for the classroom. While obtaining a master’s in school
