With different journeys but a shared devotion to their students and love for what they do, theatre teacher E. Cesar Trevino and government teacher Chloe Porter are redefining what it means to make a difference, one lesson, one conversation, one breakthrough at a time, proving the biggest part about teaching is the connection.
In his 18 years teaching, Trevino has made his way from teaching at the middle school level to eventually deciding to make his stop at McNeil to become the new IB theatre and tech theatre teacher. His motivation to enter the classroom, however, goes deeper than his want to help build careers.
Trevino said his reasoning behind becoming a teacher was that he had really bad teachers when he was in school, and he wanted to be better than them.
“I try not to forget what it’s like to be a student because I’ve been in their shoes and I know what it’s like,“ Trevino said. “Regardless of what happens at the end of the year, they might not ever remember something I taught them, but they’ll always remember how I made them feel.”
Despite his extensive teaching tenure, Trevino still makes an effort to show that the most important thing he teaches is not theatre, but how to help students find their voices.
“[My] favorite thing is teaching his students to get comfortable with public speaking, not just on the stage, but in life.” Trevino said. “What I think is awesome is I get kids who find their confidence and find who they are.”
“[Helping students learn] how to use their voice to speak out and do something as simple as a presentation without looking down at the floor shyly or without getting nervous. Just having given them that confidence where they can believe in themselves.”
Although there are a lot of ups, there are also a bunch of downs, because unfortunately there are still students who slip through the cracks and don’t adapt to the world of theatre.
“It’s not that I didn’t help them, they didn’t want to help themselves,” Trevino said. “I’ve told kids multiple times in my years of teaching that I shouldn’t care more about your grades than you do. But, I also tell kids at the end of the day, don’t fall under the trap of thinking that your grades are a reflection of your intelligence.”
This perspective aligns with one of Trevino’s greatest teaching struggles, which is that no matter what, there’s always going to be that one kid that you’re not going to be able to help.
“Your grades are just a reflection of how much you studied or how much you retain the information.” Trevino said. “That doesn’t mean you’re dumb, but a lot of times we have kids who have had horrible teachers in the past that brainwash them to think that they’re [naive] when they’re not. They’re just not good at test taking or note taking or whatnot. Having those kids now in high school get to me who don’t have the reading skills, the writing skills or whatnot, and then they just shut down. That’s what I hate. I want to help everybody I can.”
Although Trevino has 18 years of teaching experience, some teachers are trying to adjust to their new career path. Among those is Porter, the new Government/Economics and AP African American Studies teacher just beginning to make her rounds at McNeil. Although being a teacher wasn’t always her plan, she says she decided that that was going to be her passion in life.
“I went to a conference for the American Historical Association and they all were talking about how important it is to start from the ground up with public education, especially with teaching history especially in Texas,” Porter said. “We’re very limited with what we can do, so that’s why it’s more important than ever to be able to become an advocate for students and for people in general, and that really spoke to me.“
Now, with her being inspired by listening to people speak, she said that her want to teach high schoolers derives from the fact that high school students have a better way with words than any other grade.
“What I really like about teaching social studies with high schoolers is that high schoolers are able to critically think at this age,” Porter said. “I feel that with middle school, a lot of insecurities get in the way, so it’s a lot harder to have outright conversations with each other.“
So, in order to help her students come out of their shells, she focuses on centering her classes around being able to express yourself. “It’s so important to be able to feel comfortable in a space, and I want to create that kind of space.“
Even though she is just starting her journey, Porter says that her favorite thing so far are the connections she’s made with her students.
“There’s always at least one kid that makes it worth it every day,” Porter said. “Where they just say something such as, ‘I’m so happy to see you today.’”
Although her students make her like coming to school and teaching, Porter is adjusting to the difficulty of maintaining the amount of work.
“It’s a lot of work,” Porter said. “Work that I can’t really turn my brain off of and so I’m constantly focusing on it. It can be a lot sometimes.”
Despite the challenges that come with the workload as a new teacher, Porter credits the McNeil community for making the transition worthwhile.
“The people here [and] all of the other teachers have been such a great support system and that’s made it a lot easier. It’s worth it because everybody makes it such a good community here. This was my top school; I had a lot of friends who went to McNeil, and they were always talking about how they had really good teachers. And so I’m very happy with this school. I love it here.” Porter said.
Even though Trevino has more experience than Porter, they do have one thing in common, and that is their love for their students, and their love for the job.
