Singley is home to a lot of amazing staff that make a lasting impact on their students. But a teacher that stands out for his hard work both in and outside of the classroom is Juan Calderon.
Mr. Calderon grew up in a large family, being the youngest of seven children. He graduated from the University of North Texas with a major in Spanish with minors in History and French. We know Duolingo hates to see him coming.
When asked about what inspired his career of teaching, he said that he always knew he wanted to teach but wasn’t sure what subject or level to instruct. But judging from the classes he teaches now, it looks like he ended up picking the hardest levels in foreign languages.
He currently teaches four classes here at Singley with them being Spanish 2, AP Spanish Language, AP Spanish Literature, and last but not least, Yearbook. With a busy schedule like this, it’s no surprise that the most challenging thing about being a teacher for him is trying to find time to do everything he wishes to. When he does find that extra time away from academics, he really enjoys playing tennis and all things photography.
Before he taught at Singley, he spent five years teaching at another Irving ISD institute, Travis Middle School. At Travis, he taught Spanish 1 (Non-Native) and Spanish 1 for Native speakers. The thing he said that made Singley stand out from the rest was its small community that allowed teachers to get to know students “at a deeper level than most other high schools that are maybe twice as big or bigger”.
With a small, tight-knit community like Singley, words of wisdom are often shared amongst teachers and students. Mr.Calderon’s biggest piece of advice for incoming freshmen is to “start thinking about their future…they may not know what they want to be, but the future will be here before long”. Freshman tend to come into high school with the idea that these four years will feel painfully long, but before they know it, they’ll be walking the stage with that diploma and moving onto their own paths. Mr.Calderon says that one of the most enjoyable things about his job is when old students reach out to him and update him on how their walks of life have been going.
But no matter what you end up doing after walking the stage, it’s important to keep track of the memories you’ve made in high school. The perfect way to keep track of these memories in a physical form is to purchase a yearbook.
Lucky for y’all, Mr.Calderon and his yearbook students put a tremendous amount of time and effort into making these yearbooks a perfect keepsake for students in all grades. If you’re interested in purchasing a yearbook, please reach out to him using the details listed.