Lauren Camarillo

Lauren Camarillo is an extraordinary Spanish teacher who has a passionate calling to make each of her students “feel valued, safe, and energized to fulfill their potential.” She is the granddaughter of immigrants from Mexico and is committed to uplifting her often overlooked immigrant students so that they see themselves as part of a globalized world, full of opportunity.

In Lauren’s class you might observe friendly competitions, such as counting how many minutes each class can speak entirely in Spanish, in order to motivate novice learners to grow beyond their comfort zone. Frequent social-emotional check-ins build and strengthen the relationships she develops. She creates equitable learning environments, utilizes collaborative group work, and develops students’ understanding of what it means to be Latinx in California and the United States. Both inside and outside of her classroom, Lauren is committed to bridging the divide between her Spanish-speaking English learners and her Spanish learners.

While still in high school, Lauren realized that many of her peers entered school at a disadvantage “due to their zip code and K-8 experience.” She learned that with persistence, high expectations, and true caring, closing the learning gap was possible. These experiences still guide her teaching today.

As part of Lauren’s Ambassadors program, students partner with community organizations to plan school and community-wide events. When planning their first Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk, they involved 10 community organizations— from mental health and community shelters to their Spartans Pause parent volunteers. As a result of this outreach, Lauren’s 25 Ambassador students had the exciting opportunity to be certified as teen Mental Health First Aid “first responders” in their county!

As a National Board Certified Teacher and graduate of Stanford University’s Teacher Education Program, Lauren is now paying it forward by teaching a Stanford graduate course in Designing Equitable Group Work. Her belief is that group work raises the achievement of all students because of the “collective and supportive nature of the small learning environment.”

Lauren Camarillo truly embodies all that is exceptional in the field of education.