Virginia Vasquez

Virginia Vasquez is an Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Composition teacher at San Gabriel High School in the Alhambra Unified School District, Los Angeles County.

In Virginia’s AP English classes, their motto is “Authors are intentional. I am an author. I am intentional.” If you asked a student to describe a typical day in her class, she believes that they’d probably say something like, “Mrs. Vasquez reminds us every day that our words matter, that we are authors and that I have a voice.”

Virginia asserts that making a commitment to know her students ensures that they feel valued and heard, and she celebrates the rich culture, knowledge, and life experiences that each one brings into her classroom. Virginia champions underserved Latino students, encouraging them to enroll in her AP classes by building more inclusive cohorts of students who have never taken AP classes before, and by assuring them that their voices are valued and needed.

As the fourth of six children in a Mexican-American family, Virginia says that some of her first educational moments occurred over the kitchen table, sharing and learning with her family. This early love of learning was further influenced by Occidental College’s Upward Bound program, where she worked as a tutor, resident advisor, and later, a teacher. Virginia explains, “One of the most important lessons I learned in Upward Bound was that you cannot teach without first being a learner yourself.”

Virginia believes that her most significant accomplishments are building roots and creating lasting relationships with students. She has made lifetime connections with her community, attending her students’ quinceañeras, high school and college graduations, and even inviting them to come to her wedding. She is proud that she was their teacher, but even more proud of what they continue to teach her.

Quote: “Despite the challenges this last year has posed, come August, I will stand at my door ready to greet students, ready to do it all over again because that’s what we do.”