NEWINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) — Elsa Batista has been teaching in Newington for about 14 years but remembers a time when she was young and vulnerable, moving to America for the first time.
“Originally I was born in the Dominican Republic. I came to the United States when I was 6-years-old. I lived in (New York City) for many years and moved to Newington in 2009,” Batista said.
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Now the mom of two young boys and a Spanish teacher at Newington High School has built a life of her own. She uses her little nook at the school to ensure everyone feels welcome.
“A corner where students can stop looking at their phones as they go from one class to the next and see someone who looks like them up on the board or learn about someone they don’t know about from another culture,” she said.
Historical figures, facts, and decor adorn the wall just outside her room.
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Now the hope is even students who aren’t taking the class may walk by and take pause. Learn something new in their travels.
“I like how everyone can be seen on here and everyone has a space,” 12th-grader Avaya Wagner said.
Wagner was excited to help decorate it, as such a meaningful project so early in the school year..
“It’s their time to be seen – they can see themselves represented through this board,” Wagner said.
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Once Newington’s “Teacher of the Year,” Batista herself has also become a safe space for students.
For those students she hasn’t had in her classroom, this is her way of making those connections too.
“A young lady of Indian descent looked and saw someone who looked like her and she did a double take and pointed to her friend and that made me smile because that’s exactly what this is for,” Batista said.
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Publish date : 2024-09-24 01:44:00
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