Gina Garavito: ‘Everything starts with a good teacher’

Published 7:33 am Thursday, May 4, 2023

After graduating from Nuestra Senora del Pilar, a Catholic high school for girls, she attended La Universidad del Zulia in Maracaibo to study petroleum engineering.

By chance, she shifted career paths and began working with children. “Once many years ago, my friend asked me for help at the daycare where she worked. I wasn’t sure about working with kids, but I did it,” she said. “It was there that I discovered that I loved working with kids.”

She has been in the area for four years and teaches English as a second language (ESL) at Southwest Louisiana Charter Academy. She teaches students in Kindergarten to eighth grade. She also serves as the assistant president of the Spanish Club.

She helps the students with their English by practicing listening, reading and speaking with them using apps and targeted materials and activities. “We do this in order to improve their communication skills that they need to be successful in this society.”

Teaching ESL is fun for Garavito. Every day, she finds happiness in helping her students excel in English. She fully embodies her role as a guide. “Teaching them makes me feel like I can help them find their path in life.”

She finds herself consistently motivated by the students at SWLCA. “They bring joy and energy to my life as a teacher and make me try to be a teacher for them everyday.

She strives to make the experience enjoyable for her students as well. “I just want to make education for children easy and fun so that they will never forget what they learned.”

In Garavito’s eyes, the most important thing that a teacher can do is provide a child with affection and actively serve as a role model. “It is not always easy, but if you really love what you are doing, it is going to work.”

“Never forget, everything starts with a good teacher.”