Alondra Diaz

Alondra Diaz is a third grade general education and dual emersion teacher at Ralph A. Gates Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Magnet Elementary School in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, Orange County. State Superintendent Tony Thurmond also nominated Alondra as California’s representative for the 2022 National Teacher of the Year competition.

“¡Hola! My name is Alondra and I am one of the underrepresented teachers of color in the state of California.”

Alondra’s commitment to education is rooted in the sacrifices that her single mother made to provide a better life for her children in what she describes as “the land of opportunities.” For Alondra, school was her safe haven, and she calls her bi-lingual classroom her own land of opportunities. It is her goal not only to provide a sense of belonging and connectedness for her students, but also to provide opportunities that expose her students to different cultures, beginning with the ones represented in her class. She works tirelessly and with great passion to create bicultural, bilingual and biliterate scholars who play an active, responsible role in their careers as students. Alondra feels that being part of a dual language immersion community helps her build confident and empowered students by raising their awareness of cultural differences and the need for acceptance. “I value their native language, traditions and experiences. Language connects us,” she believes.

The pandemic created many challenges for Alondra and her students, with one of the most pressing being that with school closures, many students did not have access to books. So, the endlessly creative Alondra teamed up with colleagues and created a list of digital books in Spanish and English. She also recorded herself reading her favorite books. In this way, students and their parents were able to include literacy at home. This created opportunities for quality time between students and families. Alondra believes that, “When students feel supported, they thrive.”

Quote: “A teacher is a crucial factor in student success. The odds were against me from the moment I stepped into my kindergarten class. But teachers who took the time to really know me, who transmitted their love and care, and created classroom communities of acceptance and validation changed me. Teaching is  in the business of changing lives.”