Eastlake High School 2019 graduates Melanie Vasquez and her twin sister Melissa Vasquez returned to school in the Socorro Independent School District this fall.
The sisters are part of the new cohort of teacher residents who have been placed in classrooms throughout Socorro ISD as part of the Teacher Residency Program in partnership with the University of Texas at El Paso.
Launched in 2019, the UTEP program allows student teachers to immerse themselves in a classroom for an academic school year and gain hands-on experience co-teaching alongside an experienced teacher mentor.
“Team SISD leaders, principals, and mentors have proven that a teacher residency program that invests in the community by recruiting, preparing, and retaining the next generation of educators to be day-one ready works,” said Yvonne Romero, SISD coordinator of culture opportunity.
To date, more than 40 UTEP students have successfully completed the program, and of that number over 20 teacher residents have been offered positions in SISD.
Melanie and Melissa Vasquez were thrilled to learn that they would be placed in SISD schools for the 2023-24 school year at the Miner Teacher Residency Match Day Ceremony in May at UTEP. As part of the teacher residency program, both will also serve as SISD substitute teachers during their senior year at UTEP. They expect to graduate from the university in June 2024.
Melanie Vasquez, a fourth-grade teacher resident at Cactus Trails Elementary School, said she knew she wanted to teach since she was a little girl. She was excited to serve her yearlong residency in the same district where she attended kindergarten through high school.
“I think what encouraged me to become a teacher through this particular program is that UTEP does such a great job of preparing you as a teacher, so when we do start our first year as teachers we’ll be prepared,” Melanie Vasquez said. “As a graduate of Socorro ISD, I always felt Socorro was the best district and so for me it was the only option because they provide lots of opportunities and resources for both their students and employees.”
In the program, teacher mentors at the schools where the residents are placed model and plan effective instruction and professional dispositions. They create a supportive classroom environment, observe, and provide specific feedback to teacher candidates to have a lasting impact on student achievement.
Teacher mentors provide residents with all lesson materials in advance, and review resident planned lessons. They model regular effective instructional practices for residents, help them establish independent planning responsibilities and support them in understanding the core content areas, and more to help them on their educational journey.
Melissa Vasquez said she was unsure what to do after high school until her sister encouraged her to join Eastlake’s Texas Association of Future Educators, or TAFE. In 2023, the program changed to the Academy of Careers and Education or ACE. In the program, which provides students the opportunity to explore the teaching profession, Melissa Vasquez said she fell in love with teaching and decided to become an educator.
Although she has only been in her residency at Horizon Heights Elementary for a few weeks, Melissa Vasquez said the experience has allowed her sample what teaching is like. She is especially grateful to be going through the residency program with her sister.
“Going through this together with my sister has just been a huge relief,” said Melissa Vasquez, who co-teaches first grade. “Everything I’m going through; she is going through. And, because we are learning with different grade levels, we get to live through and learn from each other’s experiences on how to work with different age groups.”
The teacher residency program has expanded to include a new pathway for paraprofessionals. Residents who go through the paraprofessional path can participate in the program in an instructional capacity and work toward earning their teaching degree by taking evening classes, all while continuing their employment in their current positions with SISD.
Both Vasquez sisters said their experience in the teacher residency program was something neither could have ever imagined. Although they’ve only been in the program since the school year started on July 31, they can already see their progression.
“This partnership through UTEP and SISD has been an amazing experience so far,” Melissa Vasquez said. “I feel like SISD is very involved with their residents and that they just want to give us the best experience.”
The UTEP-SISD teacher residents are housed at Cactus Trails Elementary, Dr. Sue A. Shook Elementary, Horizon Heights Elementary, Purple Heart Elementary, Myrtle Cooper Elementary, Lujan-Chavez Elementary, Sun Ridge Middle, El Dorado High School, and Montwood High School.