Hello, I am Ms. Juan. I graduated from Lexington High School in 2011. After graduating from high school, I attended Davidson Davie Community College. In 2014, I obtained an associate's degree in Early Childhood Education. Last December, I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies with a concentration in the Humanities. I have worked for Lexington City Schools for six years. I started as the district's interpreter and ESL teacher's assistant for grades K-12. I worked as a substitute teacher for the district from the fall of 2019 until the spring of 2022. I have also had the pleasure of working with the EC and Math teams. This is my first year teaching English. I am incredibly excited about working with the class of 2023.

I was born in Los Angeles, California, but in 2004 my family decided to move to Lexington, North Carolina. I have lived here for more than half of my life now and I would not change it for any other place. I love the beauty the seasons bring to this beautiful state that I now I call my forever home. I am a mother of two beautiful girls. I also call myself a dedicated feline enthusiast (fancy for crazy cat lady). I have three cats and three dogs. I love reading murder mysteries and detective novels by authors such as Agatha Christie and Edgar Allen Poe. I would love to instill a love for reading in my students to help them open their eyes to the many wonders a book can bring.

Vision

To inspire and prepare students for a diverse world. In which they will succeed with the knowledge they gain from their education, along with the values they have gained from home and their community. 

My Teaching Philosophy

Why I Teach:  While I was growing up I always loved reading and writing, but I did not see it as something I would like to do as a career. I grew up speaking Spanish as my primary language. I learned to speak and write in the English language while I was in elementary school. I first started to find myself enjoying reading during my middle school years. While I was enrolled here at Lexington Senior High School from 2008- 2010, I had a teacher who influenced my love for the English subject. 

In 9th grade, I had Ms. Cole, who later married and became Mrs. Ryan. I had her for two or three years for English. I remember so vividly listening to her discourse about Mythical Folktales, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edmond Rostand’s, “Cyrano de Bergerac” and my very favorite author of all times, Edgar Allen Poe. She always had great stories about the authors and background knowledge of why they wrote a certain story, book, or play. I honestly hated school so much that many times I wanted to drop out or I would skip other classes but never hers. She had this unique way of bringing a story or book into reality. She would make everything sound so fascinating and it made me realize that I loved reading and that I was capable of writing too. 

During my time in high school, I had low grades in subjects such as math and science, but I always had A’s in English because Mrs. Ryan made me a fan of reading and writing more than I ever was. She made me appreciate the English language and the art that comes with it. She didn’t just influence me to love reading, but she inspired me to pursue a career in Education, especially teaching English. I have been working for this district that I graduated from for around six years as a teacher's assistant for multiple grades. Many times, people ask me why I work at the same school I graduated from or why I don’t go work for the county schools. My answer is always… "because I want to give back to my community and to be able to help educate students and possibly be able to inspire them, just as I was inspired by Mrs. Ryan”.

Who I Teach: I teach our future, the next generation of leaders who will possibly shape our world to be great. I believe that for students to learn, they first need to feel welcomed and comfortable in their classroom. They need to be free to ask questions and relate to what they are learning in the classroom. I want my students to feel valued. They need to know that their opinions, their knowledge, and their experiences bring a lot to our classroom and when they share these things they help others by changing their perspectives. Not everyone is a risk taker, but sometimes, seeing what others have accomplished by taking a risk, they can become motivated to try new things, even if it's discussing a certain topic or giving their own opinion about a certain matter. 

What I Teach: I teach English, which is a subject that many are not fond of due to the heavy amount of reading and writing involved. I feel like having a close connection with students will help me be able to create an environment where they can learn to appreciate literature and English subjects. If I share with them what I find amazing about reading, it may not always impact them and make them love a certain book or the whole English subject, but they will at least grasp and hold a little something out of the whole unit or activity that they will always remember.

Nada hay absoluto, todo se cambia, todo se mueve, todo se revoluciona, todo vuela y se va.                       -Frida Kahlo

Nothing is absolute, everything changes, everything moves, everything revolutionizes, all files and goes. -Frida Kahlo