For the past seven years, Algebra One teacher, Yessenia Sereno, has worked toward the goal of supporting students in any way possible.
“This is the beginning of my seventh year of teaching. This would be my fourth year at Lake Ridge. I previously taught in Arlington ISD, and I actually started in Arlington ISD because that is where I was raised and I went to high school there as well. I wanted to give back to my own community,” said Sereno.
Sereno’s close knit relationships with teachers started from a very young age. The idea of becoming a teacher was sparked by her summers spent volunteering.
“In elementary school I actually grew very close to my teachers, to the point where I would go back and I would volunteer during the summers. And I would help my kindergarten teacher, my fifth grade teacher, help them out in the summers, no money, no nothing. I really enjoyed it and that kind of is what inspired me and opened the idea of becoming a teacher,” said Sereno.
While Sereno grew close with many teachers and learned more and more from each of them, there were certain teachers that connected with Sereno and influenced her in the future. Sereno’s senior year allowed for math to become a prominent subject in her life.
“My English teacher in middle school is someone I went back to as well. I actually became an AVID tutor after high school, and we kept in contact. With my high school teachers I had a choir teacher that I was really close with, and my Pre-Cal teacher is actually the one that inspired me to become a math teacher. She was in my senior year, and she was very inspirational. She was very patient, she was very understanding, and she took the time to break down the math for me,” said Sereno. “She’s the one who got the idea, if I got a one hundred on my test, I would receive a soda. And so I’ve actually continued that now as a teacher, I’ll give them either a soda or a bag of chips for earning a 100.”
After exploring different career choices, Sereno always turned towards one career at the end of the day, teaching. Teaching has been a source of joy for Sereno, and being able to walk into a classroom full of students that Sereno can support in life has been a source of happiness. Throughout the seven years of Sereno’s teaching career, there have been many students from the past who have come back to converse and build a relationship outside of Algebra One.
“Just all the teachers I have had throughout the years really helped me grow. They raised me, and I still keep in contact with many of them. So I wanted to make that same connection as a teacher with students in the future. And so that’s what got me into math; that’s what got me into teaching. I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was young, and I looked at different options, and other options that were out there, but nothing that actually brought joy to me, to every day,” said Sereno. “Just being able to talk to kids everyday, being able to help them, being able to understand what they’re going through every day, not just in the classroom, but in life. If there’s any way that I can support them or help them, I’m always willing to prioritize that over their academics, because to me that was really important. And so now that I’ve been here four years at Lake Ridge, I’m starting to get students that are older and coming back and you know, ‘Hey, Ms. Sereno’ like ‘How’s it going?’ So I’m starting to build those connections again, which is something I look forward to every day.”
Throughout Sereno’s life, building relationships has always been important. Whether that was having bonds with teachers as a student or creating other bonds with students as a teacher, Sereno has not found the same passion in any other career.