Monica Robles left Nacogdoches High School as a graduate with the Class of 2019. She didn’t stay away long.
Robles has worked five years for NISD – both as a secretary and paraprofessional in the classroom – while completing work on a degree at Angelina College then earning her teaching degree at Stephen F. Austin State University.
In August, Robles moves into the classroom where she will teach English to the students newest to the district.
It’s the fulfillment of her lifetime dream.
“I always wanted to be a teacher,” Robles said this week. “I want to make an impact on our kids, and to be a role model for them. I want to be there and see that light bulb go off when they understand something and really get it for the first time.”
Robles grew up in Nacogdoches and went to school here, attending Fredonia Elementary and McMichael Middle School. At NHS she took Instructional Practices in Education and Training classes taught by Carla Coffee, setting her on a path to work in the classroom.
“It was always my goal to come back and teach here,” Robles said.
After graduation, she became certified to be a paraprofessional in the classroom (students enrolled in the education classes at NHS can now earn paraprofessional certification by completion of the courses; that wasn’t the case when Robles graduated in 2019) and that became her first job with the district, working with newcomers at Mike Moses, which was then a middle school.
Robles has also been a secretary with the district, a role she’s filled the past year at Malcolm Rector Center for Advanced Careers and Innovation located at NHS.
“I’ve worked with Ms. Robles twice – at Mike Moses Middle School and now here in CTE,” said NISD’s Career and Technical Education Director Shawn Lucena. “Ms. Robles is smart, hard-working, caring and creative, and I’m excited she will be working with our students, but we will definitely miss her here.”
The experiences has, Robles said, along with being bilingual, can provide valuable guidance for students new to the country and the community.
“That group doesn’t have that person to guide them,” she said. “I’m nervous, yes, but I’m also super excited. This is what I’ve always wanted to do, and it’s finally coming true.”