During GPS, instructor Abigail Ceremuga helps out one of her students, junior Joshua Garcia, with a question he has about Spanish.

“I had her in Spanish, so she was a great teacher in Spanish,” Garcia said. “She always made me understand lessons and also she always had herself open to us. If we ever had questions for Spanish class or for personal stuff she’s always there for us.”

Ceremuga is a newer teacher, but in her short time teaching at East, she has touched many lives in her classes.

“Her influence and impact are tremendous,” junior Angel Dawson said. “She not only guided me and saw my growth, but she encouraged me to be a better student and person.”

Ceremuga does not take all the credit for her teaching skills. She learned it all from another Spanish teacher at Bellevue East.

“Señora Porras has taught me the importance of building relationships with students,” Ceremuga said. “Meeting each student where they are at and seeing them as a whole human and not just a student on a roster.”

Ceremuga’s relationship with her students has helped Dawson. Ceremuga has helped Dawson with decisions she had to make in her life

“There have been some situations in my life that I’ve asked her opinion about, and she was able to advise me towards a direction, which turned out great,” Dawson said.

By building relationships with students Ceremuga can help them through hard times. Also, being a younger teacher helps her understand teens better from her personal experience. 

“I feel like the empathy [she has] definitely,” Garcia said. “She understands as a teenager and I feel like that’s due to her young age. Also, she also [what it] feels to be a teenager right now and the problems we go through.”

Just like how teachers were students before becoming teachers, Ceremuga uses her experience from when she was younger to help students so they don’t have the same regrets that she has.

“I would say something that I regret the most is not apologizing to people in the past,” Ceremuga said. “I think I’ve been in situations where I can look back and I see how much my actions or my words affected others and I think I was too selfish to notice.”

Ceremuga said that is short, but students have a long life left to live. She said not to have regrets; plus, high school is just a small part of life.

“Everything is temporary, change is inevitable and that high school is, well, high school,” Dawson said. “That you’ll get over it like 20 years from now you’re going to remember this C in math? No.”