Joel Laguna

About Joel

• While he was studying at UCLA, his friend asked him if he'd help him tutor some Spanish-speaking kids.
• He fell in love with tutoring; realized that if he was willing do it on the weekends for free, he could definitely pursue teaching as a career.
• Makes a point of not bringing out an "alter-ego" when he's in the classroom; says, "Who I am as a teacher is who I am in life."
• When he first started, other teachers thought he was just the "fun" teacher who wasn't actually educating his kids.
• Once his students' test scores turned out to be consistently better than the other students', those other teachers started realizing they should lighten up.
• He was the first of his family to go to college, so his mother didn't always know how to support him through that experience.
• That helps him relate to his students, many of whom are from low-income families, would also be first-generation college students.
• Says he loves his job so much that he comes to work with a smile on his face every single day.