Get To Know Ms.Flores

Elsie Flores is one of two Spanish teachers here at GALA, she is very excited to have been asked to participate in this article so let’s start by learning about her early life. Flores grew up in Los Angeles being taught here from elementary school to college. During her college years, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Spain at the University of Granada. Her teaching years began teaching 2nd graders and 5th grades for a total of 4 years. At the first school she taught at, she had the opportunity to open up a Spanish program for the first time which allowed her to teach students from kindergarten to 8th grade. Flores has now been teaching for over 20 years as she started in 2001.

One of Ms.Flores’s first goals she completed was going to university to finish off her studies which she was able to complete by graduating from UCLA. Flores worked 3 jobs during school which helped put her through and pays school off. One of her other goals which she’s achieved is having a family of her own! Flores is proud to have been able to travel around the world which includes her favorite place, Switzerland.

She began teaching at GALA in 2018, she taught Spanish 1, 2, and 3. Although she now only teaches Spanish 2 and 3. She was nervous to begin teaching as she encountered herself teaching high schoolers. The scariness also came from having to learn a new system fastly and learn the different types of learning styles her students had. Flores has now been teaching for 4 years at GALA. Her favorite class to teach is Spanish 3, students get to be more involved with Spanish such as writing. Although she enjoyed teaching Spanish 1 because she loved seeing students getting to learn Spanish for the first time.

Flores is constantly inspired by her kids who can achieve understanding in her class after maybe not getting it at first. She explains how it’s almost like a lightbulb that goes on in their head when they get that lightbulb. She’s so proud and says it’s the best feeling as an educator. She is also inspired by kids who show gratitude toward learning Spanish because it lets her know that their not taking advantage of the class and are deeply understanding the concept.

Flores describes herself as a fighter in the sense that she doesn’t give up, especially when she’s told she can’t do something she will always find a way to do it. She says she has always been like this since a kid because growing up she had issues learning which made her have to do twice the work other kids had to do to understand the material. Then at one point in her life, she became ill which made her have to fight both herself and her family and she did which makes her a true fighter in every way possible.