Elizabeth Recinto

Mrs. Elizabeth Recinto
SE RES
Room 206
ERecinto@cps.edu

As an alumnus of the Chicago Public Schools, I was able to see firsthand the impact that a teacher can make on a student.  My teachers valued the diversity within the community and invested their careers to challenging the students to think outside of the box and problem solve through academics as well as through life.  The great experiences and memories I have growing up in Chicago are what have inspired me to become a teacher.  I do believe that everything is intentional.  As a teacher, we have the opportunity to make a student’s learning experience valuable in so many ways.  Teachers can inspire and motivate students to become dreamers, activists, and change agents.

While attending DePaul University for my Bachelors in Human-Computer Interaction, I was able to intern as a tutor for a program to work with students at high-risk schools located on the Westside and Southside of Chicago.  It was then that I was being called to teach in the city I loved.  Sometime after graduating from DePaul University, I decided to attend National Louis University.  I graduated with my Masters of Arts in Teaching in Special Education, LBS1, in the spring of 2006.  Although I have continued my studies, taking courses at the University of Chicago in mathematics, I switched gears in 2008 to focus more on educational leadership.  In the winter of 2009, I graduated with my Masters of Education in Educational Organization and Leadership.  

Some of the most memorable and rewarding experiences I have teaching include working with the students that have struggled in school at some point.  There is something to say about working with a student and seeing the “lights go on” when they finally get it.  When I began teaching at Newberry, I worked with a fourth grade student in math.  Although it took this student twice as long to complete a lattice multiplication problem, I kept encouraging him to keep trying and practice each day.  Each day, he knew the routine.  He knew that I was not going to let him give up and just sit there.  It even came to a point in class one day when he turned to me and said, “I know, Mrs. Recinto, keep trying, right?”  I chuckle every time I think about that instance because, in the end, through practice and persistence, he finally got it.  The following week he drew me a picture of a dragon to thank me for helping him in math class.  It puts a smile on my face every time I see this student in the hall.  Even though he is in eighth grade, he’s not too big to say “hi” to me when he sees me in the hall.  The picture of the dragon and all the memories that I’ve kept near my heart all these years have helped to energize and challenge me to seek out and implement best practices and afford opportunities for my students every chance I get.