New English teacher Paige Cruz, a recent addition to the SCHS staff, is excited to be teaching high school students this year. Previously, Cruz taught at Don Callejon for five years.

“It’s different, because it was such a small school. I was the only 8th grade English teacher. You really get to know all of the students,” Cruz said. “Santa Clara is the complete other end of the spectrum, a huge school.”

Before she started teaching English, Cruz taught Spanish 1 for three years and Conversational Spanish for one year at Don Callejon. While Cruz enjoys teaching English, she would like to teach AP Spanish one day. AP Spanish would combine two of her favorite things, teaching Spanish and teaching literature.

“What I enjoyed and still enjoy about teaching Spanish is that there’s still reading and there’s still writing and comprehension, but it’s taught in such a different way,” Cruz said. “Culture and history are intertwined and connected with Spanish and with another language more so than literary analysis.”

In regards to her experience teaching at SCHS so far, Cruz enjoys how she can collaborate with other English teachers whereas at her previous school, she did not have that.

“The other Multicultural Lit teachers – we work together a ton. We’re all on the same page so that we’re all able to teach the same things at the same time,” Cruz said. “All seniors that are taking Multicultural Lit are able to have the same experience in that sense and you have more brains working together, so for me who likes working with other people and with a team, it is really exciting because I didn’t have that before at Callejon.”

Outside of teaching, Cruz loves to read but often faces distractions at home.

“I’m still trying to find those pockets at home. I have a son. He’s just a year old and he still occupies so much of my time, so I’m still trying to find that balance of time,” Cruz said. “Not as much time as I would like currently, but I try to get in a few pages here and there at least before I go to sleep.”

Cruz’s love for reading translates to her love for teaching English. She hopes to encourage students to enjoy and appreciate reading the same way she does.

“The most important takeaway that students can take would be to be able to translate the enthusiasm and the excitement,” Cruz said. “Even if it’s not classic literature, at least finding something they’re excited about in terms of reading.”