Two teachers leaving to pursue new professions

By Omar R.

Spanish teacher Ms. Maria Dorantes and math teacher Ms. Martha Ramos have announced they will be leaving CATS by the next upcoming year to pursue their own respective careers.

Each had their own reasons for wanting to leave, but both said part of it had to do with the challenges of teaching.

The Algebra 2 and leadership teacher said that “being a teacher requires a lot and it requires a lot more than is in your control.”

She commented on how looking over 25 to 30 students at a time isn’t as easy as it seems. “The current ninth graders — I see them and I just, I just don’t want to have them,” Ms. Ramos said.

Similarly, Ms. Dorantes said that, “First year teaching here was very rough; it wasn’t the best experience.”

She said that one of the things that triggered her decision to leave teaching was being the only Spanish teacher.

However, Ms. Dorantes also talked about how much she loved the relationships she has built with her students and the “one on ones” that she would always have with them.

Ms. Ramos also talked about the things she will miss from being a teacher saying she will miss her leadership class because “they like do a lot of activities like the arts and crafts stuff, like when we do [candy] grams and when we do posters, ’cause I like helping them with that. I am very, like, artsy, too.”

Ms. Ramos wishes the school “the best of luck with how school goes moving forward.”

So what will they do after CATS?

“I’m applying to different positions,” Ms. Ramos said. “The one thing I know for sure is that I don’t want to be a teacher.”

She explained that whatever she does next will be “totally different” and is “not gonna be teaching related.”

Ms. Dorantes said she is working on her Master’s degree so she can get a job in law or interpretation.

She said she is passionate about “working in communities and helping with language especially.”

This means that the school will need to find a new Spanish teacher as well as two new math teachers, since Mr. Eric Stokien also left in the middle of the semester.