We’re very pleased to announce that the winner of the October Teacher of the Month Award is Mr. Joel Arquillos, a history teacher at Galileo Academy of Science & Technology.

The following interview was conducted by two Galileo students, Hai Guan and Victor Lim, regarding his success as a teacher as well as his role in the community.

Q: How long have you been teaching?

Arquillos: I’ve been teaching high school for five years at Galileo Academy of Science & Technology.

Q: How did you become a teacher? What was the process?

Arquillos: I was first an intern teacher for San Francisco Unified School District. I came in because there was a need for bilingual teachers in the district. I am fluent in Spanish.

The first two years of teaching I was also taking classes at night to get my credentials. So, the first two years I was working and teaching at the same time. The process was very hard—you have to take a lot of courses, write a lot of papers, do a lot of reading, and prepare for teaching at the same time. It was scary because I didn’t really have much experience in the classroom. Here I was, trying to do the best I could to in school during the day and taking challenging university courses at night.

Q: When did you know you wanted to become a teacher?

Arquillos: I figured that out when I was in college. That’s when I became very interested in the subject of history. I realized when I was reading history that it was more than just names and dates; it was stories of people like me, common people. That was what fascinated me about history: I was actually a
part of it.

I also realized that I can make history more interesting to young people. I think teaching is one of the few types of jobs where I would have the opportunity to make any kind of change, so that’s what really interested me. San Francisco is the perfect place to work because students are from so many different backgrounds. I felt that it would be a good opportunity to learn a lot from my students, and to be able teach them that they too have history and they are an important part of American culture.

Q: What is your favorite part about being a teacher?

Arquillos: My favorite part about being a teacher is that I spend my days working with young people. I think it makes me feel young. It’s also a great job. It’s an opportunity to influence young people and hopefully send them in good directions.

Q: What is your least favorite thing about the job?

Arquillos: It is students who give up on themselves. My least favorite are the sad stories of some of my students lives. Some students are homeless others don’t live with their parents and many have jobs outside of school. I get very hurt when I see students give up.

Another thing I don’t like about my job is that sometimes you don’t get the support you need from the central district. Even though our school looks really nice now, there were days when our school didn’t look so good. Our government doesn’t really put enough money and effort into supporting our schools. The only way that we will make our world better is to educate the minds of our young, otherwise we’ll just keep going back to the same problems that we always had in the past. Also, sometimes classes are too big; it’s hard to focus your intention on individual students because you are dealing with a large number of students in a class.

Q: Why do you think you were given this award?

Arquillos: I guess some people think I am doing a good job. I guess some students and teachers think that I am doing the right thing as a teacher and staying late to do the job that I am supposed to do.

Q: What do your students teach you?

Arquillos: They teach me that even though I might have very big expectations for my students and myself, sometimes I have to slow down; I have to take everyday one day at a time. Everybody comes from different types of backgrounds, so I have to be patient and understand that every student who comes to me is not the same. I think I need to focus on life that way too because I can’t expect the world to run the way I want it to run. I can only do what I can do; if I take it one day at a time, I always feel that at least I am doing something to improve the life of others and I am doing my best.

Q: Do you ever get angry with your students?

Arquillos: Sure. I get angry with students who I know could do better and aren’t. I get angry with students who don’t come to class on time. I get angry with students who don’t talk to me when they have problems. I usually get over it pretty quickly but sometimes it lingers.

Q: You’ve taught for five years, can you compare your experiences between now and your first year of teaching?

Arquillos: The first year was really difficult; not only was I teaching but I was also taking classes at night. I had to relearn history and restructure history for myself throughout the years. I also did a lot of collecting of good lessons and good materials from other teachers. Now I have a library of resources that I can use to teach. I feel more confident with those resources but I am still learning. I am still in the process of learning even more about history. I am constantly getting involved in classes and district wide history committees.

Q: What is your teaching style?

Arquillos: I believe that every student is a different type of learner; some
students are better at reading and writing, some students are better at understanding visuals, and some students are better at speaking what they understand with others. Everyone who comes in to my classroom has a
different way of learning. I try to teach in a way that every student can
get something out of it; I use visuals and I do group work. My teaching
style is one that tries to teach to every student and uses all different
types of learning styles. I also believe that students bring a lot of
knowledge and experiences from their own lives that contributes to
discussions in class.

Here are some quotes from students and teachers who wrote in to nominate Mr. Joel Arquillos.

“If a student fails in [Mr. Arquillos’] class, he wouldn’t just give up or
lose hope for this student... He believes that someday he/she can do it. Mr. Arquillos is the most encouraging teacher I have ever had.”

   —Helena Ou, Galileo Academy of Science and Technology

“Joel Arquillos is an emotionally-charged, highly energetic and extremely
devoted high school teacher. His abilities are numerous and his popularity
is most warranted.”

   —Don Papa, social science teacher at
       Galileo Academy of Science and Technology

“Joel searches for the spark in every student, no matter how backward, and
builds from that spark. He cares about every [student] and seems never to
give up. Joel is admired by his students. He sets an example for them of
concern for others in the classroom and the world, and a courtesy that is
based on respect, not on rules.”

   —Helen Giambruni, volunteer