Walking through the MHS doors comes a sense of pride, Cardinal pride, with the fiery colors of red and black running through her veins, pumping her heart alive. For new geometry teacher Alicia Chavez the Cardinal habitat is a home away from home.

“I love it here, it is like a big family and I felt very welcome,” Chavez said. “I am so proud to be a small part of a big, beautiful education system like Melissa High School.”

Chavez is a hard-working teacher, who is also a loving wife and mother to a young boy at home. She also has a little one on the way.

“I made a rule for myself after I graduated to focus on my profession right when I walked through the doors, but when I leave, all my attention draws to my husband and children,” Chavez said.

As nearly every inch of the globe has changed dramatically in a period of a few months so has the life of Mrs. Chavez. In addition to her pregnancy, her teaching methods got flipped upside down.
“Being a new teacher, coming out of student teaching, I do not have much classroom experience to rely on,” Chavez said. “Learning how to react with the students would be the hardest thing for me because I do not want the students to misunderstand me when I am trying to display discipline in their lives.”

She strives to make sure her students are emotionally involved and focused on the lesson of the day.

“My goal, not only as a teacher but as a human being, is I want my students to to feel accepted,” Chavez said. “I want to hear them out, and understand what their heart is trying to tell me.” she states. “I have built my whole belief system on something we all hear as young people: if you want respect from the people in your environment, you should give them respect and you will gain the same amount of respect back, and I continue to live by this every day as I grow and learn.”

Even though this year is structured and tackled differently from the past, Chavez would not change this experience in any shape or form.

“I hope Melissa keeps me around to teach future generations, and along with that I hope my children have the opportunity to join such a proud and united community also known as Melissa High School,” Chavez said.