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High Expectations Key to Quality Mentoring“Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.”
Those words are a guiding force for Khoa Nguyen, who mentors teacher candidates at the UNC Center for Urban Education (CUE) at Lowry. (Each CUE student is paired with an experienced mentor, who observes the student working in the classroom and provides real-time feedback.)
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Nguyen’s love of lifelong learning is reflected in his long track record of degrees earned, plus a 30-year career in Denver Public Schools. He has had many professional roles, including translator, social worker, assistant principal, and elementary school principal.
A Pro's Opinion about Quality Mentorship When asked what quality mentorship of our future educators looks like, Nguyen’s words reflect the ideas that the Center asks the teacher candidates to apply to their own students. “Empower them to take the next step. Pull out the best in them and help them be more confident so that they can do their best work,” said Nguyen.
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HOW YOU CAN HELP FILL THE TEACHER PIPELINE
REFER A FUTURE TEACHER
Know someone who is interested in becoming a teacher? Have them click here to watch a short video about why UNC Center for Urban Education is a an excellent option for people who want to gain experience in classrooms while attending classes.
HELP KEEP STUDENTS IN SCHOOL
Want to keep a future teacher in school? Sometimes a financial emergency, like a car battery dying or an unexpected doctor visit, can mean a student has to leave school for a semester. Contribute to our students’ success! Make a donation of $100, $250, or $500. Click here to send us an email about making a contribution to the Center for Urban Education, or call Rosanne Fulton at 303-637-4334.
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He explained that mentors should provide resources and support, but also expect great things. “Always expect the teacher candidates to continue to get better—set very high expectations,” he said.
When asked what he would like to do differently in his role as mentor, he said, “I wish we had more time to reflect on what we did and incorporate that into lesson planning with the cooperating teachers. A student should master a skill before moving on the next level."
One Helping Hand Deserves AnotherNguyen’s commitment to love of and caring for his mentees is rooted in the help he received when he was on the down and out. He brings with him a history of suffering and renewal, thanks to helping hands.
To understand his story, we have to back up a bit—to when Nguyen was college-age himself. In April of 1975, Saigon—the capital city of South Vietnam—fell to North Vietnamese soldiers.
As bombs exploded and tanks rumbled through the streets, 18-year-old Khoa Nguyen and his family fled the city. They were among 120,000 political refugees seeking asylum in the United States. After a long journey through Guam, Iceland, and Camp Pendleton in California, the Nguyens came to Denver.
Nguyen was mistreated by his sponsors and became homeless for several weeks. Finally, with the help of his community, he found another sponsor and a job. “When I was homeless, people helped me. So if I can make somebody else happy, why wouldn’t I?” Nguyen asked.
A Friend of the CommunityIn addition to mentoring teacher candidates at the Center for Urban Education, Nguyen volunteers his time in the community. He is a member of the Board of Directors of AdvocacyDenver a non-profit, a civil rights advocacy organization that serves people with disabilities. He donates time to the Vietnamese temples in Denver. He works in emergency rooms at night to assist people who are transitioning to nursing homes.
He’s got another side, too—one that’s not so serious. He loves cooking, particularly Italian, French, and Asian food. And he loves to sing! On his last day of work at Denver Public Schools, his parting gift to his staff was to sing two of his favorite songs: “Let It Be” and “Imagine” by the Beatles.
The Center thanks Mr. Khoa Nguyen for his support of our students and the light he brings to our community.
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How to Be an Everyday Hero:
A Day in the Life of Jessica Delgado Trujillo
“Jessica, Jess, J—I’ll pretty much answer to anything,” says Jessica Delgado Trujillo, a soon-to-be graduate of the UNC Center for Urban Education. She’s easygoing, caring, and funny, which seems like the perfect combination of characteristics for an elementary school teacher.
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CUE Teacher Candidate Jessica Delgado Trujillo
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Trujillo starts her day “super early.” Her next-youngest sibling, Kevin, is learning to drive. She supervises his drive to high school, so she grabs easy food to eat along the way (breakfast is protein bars and fruit and lunch is a sandwich and more fruit).
Her next stop is Holly Ridge Elementary, where she works as a teacher apprentice/paraprofessional from 7:30 to 11:30 AM.
After four hours on the job, it’s time for a break and lunch, but she often spends the next half-hour playing soccer with the kids at Holly Ridge. They beg her to stay—she was their coach before she started her current position. Trujillo said the kids have gone from yelling, “You’re cheating!” to telling each other, “Good job.”
What changed?
The teachers at Holly Ridge are so community-oriented,” said Trujillo. “I like to think some of why the kids have changed is because of me, but we all work together to make sure the students are becoming good citizens.”
Next, Trujillo heads to her afternoon classes at the Center for Urban Education. She’s taking math methods, an independent study in science methods, and physical and health education. She plans to graduate this December
She incorporates many ideas she’s learned at the Center for Urban Education into her second-grade lesson planning. For one thing, kids need to move around. She checks her ideas with her brother, who lives with ADHD, to see if the activities she’s planned would have kept him engaged.
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|  | Trujillo with Her Siblings
(Left to Right: Yoan, Araceli, Jessica, and "little" brother Kevin)
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Trujillo said she’d love to work with older kids, too, but, “...the younger ones make me feel taller.” She likes to joke around, but Trujillo is serious when it comes to educating children. “People think children are something to teach to. They overlook them simply because of their age; it’s condescending. Our role as teachers is not only to teach, but to help students become autonomous learners.”
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Delgado Trujillo with Brother Yoan
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| How This K-Pop Lover Brings Culture to the ClassroomTo help them on that path, Trujillo speaks her first language of Spanish and her acquired language of Japanese in the classroom. “I figured out that I had to be accepting of students, and of myself, before they would feel comfortable.
"I encourage my dual-language–speaking students to speak their language, because it’s something to be proud of. For English-only students, I want them to learn the value of speaking a second language.”
After classes at the Center are finished, Trujillo drives. Depending on the day, she might pick up the kids she babysits in the afternoons, or her littlest brother Yoan from school, or her brother Kevin from his evening classes. “There’s a lot of driving,” she said with a smile.
She takes her brothers to Muay Thai (Thai boxing) classes some evenings, where she either participates or does her homework. “I don’t spar in tournaments, though. My 17-year-old brother completely destroys me when we do ‘light sparring,’ so I can’t imagine what’s it like to go at it with someone all out.”
When she’s not caring for her family, or teaching, or babysitting, or going to school, Jessica loves to draw, watch anime, and listen to a wide variety of music. K-pop is a favorite.
This is a day in the life of Jessica Delgado Trujillo, an everyday superhero. We at the Center are proud to be a part of her preparation for a long and fruitful teaching career and support her goals of helping students feel more valued, respected, and independent.
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Newsletter Archive
Did you miss previous issues of the Chronicle? Visit the Leadership Council page on our website, scroll down, and click on past newsletters.
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