Former Idaho middle school teacher Stephanie Archuleta serves as a Latina role model for diverse students on her campus. Photo credit: Caldwell School District
There are many fine educators who serve as role models for diverse groups of students in our schools. One of these is Stephanie Archuleta, a middle school educator of Latina ethnicity who hails from Caldwell, Idaho.
The Latino student population in the state is rising, while the number of Latino or nonwhite teachers remains stagnant, report school officials report. In the Idaho’s ten school districts with the highest percentage of Latino students, 90% of the teachers are white.
That’s where Latino teachers such as Stephanie play an important part in serving as exemplary role models. She spent 13 years as a classroom teacher, and for the past three years she has worked as an administrator. She is employed at Syringa Middle School, a public school in the Caldwell School District.
When Stephanie Archuleta reflects on her journey to becoming a teacher, she remembers with fondness her sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Kathi Lamm. “Because she believed in me, I began to believe in myself,” asserts Stephanie. “She pushed me to excel, and even when I struggled, she was there to mentor me through the hardships. When I decided to become a teacher, it was because I wanted to be a Mrs. Lamm for those that need someone to lean on and believe in them,” says Stephanie.
Stephanie harbors a strong belief in the need for public schools to recruit and develop more Latino teachers. “Students are more motivated and apt to learn when the person leading the classroom and/or school looks like them, has the same perspectives as them and the same framework of knowledge as them,” she asserts. “I want to show my students there is a place for us in history and in the future,” she concludes.
Stephanie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music from Corpus Christi University in 2003. She completed the requirements for her teaching credential from The College of Idaho in 2007. She earned her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from Walden University in 2015.
