EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — It’s one thing to have a regular job. However, it’s another thing when life works out and you get your dream job.
That’s the case for Luisa Valenzuela, a teacher at El Dorado High School. As a child, she always had a passion for teaching and architecture.
El Dorado High School Teacher Ms. Valenzuela and Aztec Architectural Academy President Andrea Rodriguez. Photos: SISD
“Since the beginning for me, it was watching spaces and thinking how you can make them better, and I loved the buildings. Not just houses but any building. I just have always admired design,” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela graduated with a degree in architecture from UACJ in Juarez, Mexico. She then graduated with a teaching degree from UTEP.
Valenzuela also got her master’s degree in math at UTEP and graduated with a separate master’s degree in architecture from Boston Architectural College.
Valenzuela says she taught for several years at an elementary school in Juarez and was also working at an architecture firm in El Paso.
However, one day she was offered an architecture teaching position at El Dorado High School and since then her students have won state and national recognition.
Valenzuela says she has been teaching for a total of 17 years and has been teaching at El Dorado for 11 years. She is currently an instructor for the Aztec Architectural Academy.
“I never thought that I was going to teach architecture. So that’s the cool part of how life works,” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela says the architecture academy is the only academy in the Socorro Independent School District.
Valenzuela says the academy is treated as a studio and prepares students for the architecture industry and college.
El Dorado High School Teacher Ms. Valenzuela and Aztec Architectural Academy President Andrea Rodriguez. Photos: SISD
“Everything that we do is something that can apply to real life scenarios. So that’s a cool part of the program and I really like it because it allows the students to actually work freely and expand on their designs, and their ideas, and everything but they know they have to apply it in the real world,” Valenzuela said.
Valenzuela says the academy also helps students with internships and landing a job at an architecture firm. The academy also helps students receive scholarships for future education.
“Once they leave the class, the students will be able to actually start working as a draftsman for now while they get their license or work in a firm. So basically it’s preparing them for all of the steps that the architecture field requires,” Valenzuela said.
Andrea Rodriguez, a senior at El Dorado High School, and the president of the architecture academy went to state this year and says it was fun to challenge herself and to test her skills.
“It was fun that we competed and we were nervous but everyone was there. Like if you get called up on the stage, you know that behind you there’s your group of friends cheering you on and that was really fun,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez says that Valenzuela is an easygoing teacher and is patient when it comes to teaching architecture.
“She doesn’t tell us how to design but she teaches us the skills to be good designers,” Rodriguez said.
El Dorado High School Teacher Ms. Valenzuela and Aztec Architectural Academy President Andrea Rodriguez. Photos: SISD
Rodriguez says she recently got accepted into the University of Arizona and is planning on getting her master’s degree in architecture. She also hopes to become a licensed architect in Arizona.
“That’s where I see myself in the future because Ms. Valenzuela has taught me her love and appreciation for buildings and architecture and I hope that I could become an architect myself,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also explains that when she was a freshman, she didn’t know what she wanted to do and she initially joined the architecture academy because she liked drawing and legos.
Rodriguez says that Valenzuela has taught her the meaning of architecture and how to design buildings that beneficially impact society.
“I think that Ms. Valenzuela has just given me the tools and appreciation for architecture and I’m able to see myself now as an architect after four years in the academy,” Rodriguez said.
Teacher Appreciation Week runs from Monday, May 6 to Friday, May 10. KTSM.com will be profiling inspiring teachers from different school districts from around the El Paso region all week.
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