Elementary, WP the place to be for Guillen

Why to teach, where to teach and who to teach can be questions many teachers have to sort through.
For new Wauneta-Palisade third grade teacher Tori Guillen several of those questions were easy.
Growing up in Allegan, Michigan, Guillen said her mom had a pretty big influence on her desire to go into elementary education.
“She  (her mother) was a fifth grade teacher for several years and is now an elementary school principal,” Guillen said.
With that in mind, Guillen traveled up the road to Cornerstone University where she graduated with an Interdisciplinary degree in elementary education and psychology.
Where to teach was another relatively easy question to answer.
Guillen moved to Wauneta in May 2017. Her husband, Josue, is from the area.
While looking for a house, Guillen got WP Superintendent Randy Geier’s phone number from their realtor in hopes of finding a para position at WP.
“He told me to come in for an interview and the rest is history,” she said.
Guillen said Geier and elementary principal Joseph Frecks have helped tremendously in her pursuit of a Masters degree and finding a classroom for her when she became certified as a teacher.
Guillen graduated this past December with a Masters of Art in Teaching from Liberty University.
With degree in hand, WP was where Guillen wanted to be.
“I didn’t have any other thoughts of looking for a job anywhere else. This school was so conveniently close for me, and now working here as a para and student teaching for the past four years, I wouldn’t want to look for a job anywhere else,” she said.
Guillen said third grade is her ideal grade to teach.
“The students are at the perfect age where they are becoming more and more independent but are still young enough where they still like me and like school for the most part,” Guillen said.
She counts her years being a para as a blessing, saying it allowed her to gain a deeper appreciation for all paras and the hard work that they do every single day.
Working with a variety of students has given Guillen an open mind for the students that need the extra assistance and she said she’ll do her best to create an environment that is going to benefit them.
Though she spent time coaching volleyball, Guillen stepped down from those duties to better focus on her first year of teaching and to be with her family.
Guillen and Josue welcomed a daughter earlier this year.
“I will miss the atmosphere and energy that the volleyball girls bring to my life, but I look forward to attending as many games as I can with a new little cheerleader,” she said.