Concepción Camargo is an eighth grade U.S. history teacher in Arlington ISD.

This article is part of our Hispanic Heritage Month campaign to honor inspiring educators. Check out other stories like Concepción's here.

In Ms. Camargo’s first year on the job, she felt overwhelmed by the incredible responsibility that comes with teaching. However, despite the anxieties of being a first-year teacher, Ms. Camargo was excited to see her students every day, and she did her best to make learning fun for her students.

"Every day is like a little party in my classroom."

Although Ms. Camargo began her college career as a nursing student, she quickly realized her passion for education while working as an AVID tutor. As an AVID tutor, Ms. Camargo worked with a small group of four to five students.

The positive relationships that she built with these students fueled her drive to pursue teaching, and her desire to make a difference in her own community further pushed her to consider becoming a teacher at her own high school. Now, as a teacher, Ms. Camargo proudly serves as a role model and mentor for the students in her hometown.

As a bilingual educator, Ms. Camargo is able to easily communicate with her students, the majority of whom are English language learners. Ms. Camargo believes that she serves as a role model for her students who sometimes have difficulty reading, writing and speaking English.

Inspired by her own positive experience having a bilingual teacher (her fourth grade teacher, Ms. Rivera, who she now works with), she hopes to demonstrate to her students that they can overcome the obstacles that come with learning a new language.

"It’s nice to look like my students and come from the same culture and speak the same language ... just to let them know, 'I get what you’re going through, but it’s going to be okay.'"

Concepción Camargo teaches in the middle school she attended in Arlington ISD. She is passionate about her career that allows her to do something different every day and have an impact on the future of her community.

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