For Women鈥檚 History Month this year, we champion three women who are excelling in education, mentorship and leadership in the Los Banos area.
Educators and 吃瓜头条 alumnae Amber Sylva-Bailey, Angelina Torres and Michelle Ceja are improving student prospects throughout Los Banos, where they work and were educated.
Sylva-Bailey, a second-year English professor at the 吃瓜头条 Los Banos Campus, planned for a teaching career starting in kindergarten. While studying at 吃瓜头条 in 2008, she found her specific path in Angela Senigaglia鈥檚 English course.
鈥淚 wanted to do what she was doing,鈥� Sylva-Bailey said. 鈥淪he was young and very smart and so caring. There was no student-teacher hierarchy in her class. She helped me decide which level and subject I wanted to teach. I immersed myself in English, and every 吃瓜头条 English professor I had from then on fostered my love of learning and leading a classroom.鈥�
After a hiatus to focus on her children, Sylva-Bailey returned to 吃瓜头条 in 2014, completing her studies in 2016. At San Jose State, she earned a BA with Latin honors in 2018, and then an MA, as the extraordinary English graduate student of the year, in 2021.
鈥淚t was a huge accomplishment, because I had little to no support from home,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was raising kids, commuting, never sleeping. But I kept my dream of teaching at 吃瓜头条.鈥�
Sylva-Bailey accepted offers for adjunct positions at both SJSU and UC Santa Cruz in Fall 2021. She found her way back to 吃瓜头条, first volunteering as women鈥檚 soccer manager when her daughter was thinking about playing there, and then being hired to teach in 2023.
鈥淚 felt like I had already embedded myself here,鈥� Sylva-Bailey said. 鈥淭he students are brilliant. My colleagues are fantastic. I love working in the community where I live, and at a place that had such a huge impact on who I am now. I hope to fulfill my students as I was once fulfilled by my instructors. I鈥檓 living a dream.鈥�
Angelina Torres works the other end of education as a preschool teacher at Mercey Springs Elementary in the Los Banos Unified School District (LBUSD). For 18 years, she has guided students with autism and other special needs.
鈥淲e work with the students on everything, including any kind of behavior challenges, to help them transition well to TK (transitional kindergarten) or kindergarten,鈥� she said.
Torres鈥檚 first job out of high school in 2007 was as a preschool classroom assistant. She immediately realized she loves working with young children, and she fell hard for both the students and the career.
鈥淵es, the career called me,鈥� Torres said. 鈥淏y luck, the lead teacher back then was Jennifer Rocha, who is also an Early Childhood Education (ECE) professor at 吃瓜头条. She molded me, pushed me to go back to school, and taught me everything I know.鈥�
Torres has seen changes, like more men entering ECE, over her two decades in the field.
鈥淵es, it鈥檚 good to give children another positive male role model,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut, now that I鈥檓 older and a mom, I know why women go into ECE. They have a natural sense of how to connect with children and help them feel safe. That鈥檚 important when we are the first ones to greet them at school when they first leave the safety of home.鈥�
Torres, who started in general education classrooms, loves the immediacy of working with students with special needs and seeing regular growth.
鈥淓very day they meet goals,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fulfilling. I enjoy teaching. I want everyone to read and read and read. I love teaching English to Spanish speakers. I think I do well at implementing conscious discipline strategies and teaching students how to self-regulate. I love doing affirmations with them every morning. I love all of it. This is my passion.鈥�
Six months ago, Michelle Ceja accepted the role of Administrative Assistant to program supervisor Zachary Cruz with LBUSD鈥檚 Learning Educational Activities Program (LEAP).
Ceja is the person Los Banos schoolchildren rely on to make sure they鈥檙e nurtured, fed breakfast and snacks, and receive enrichment activities and tutoring before and after school. The LEAP program is succeeding and growing fast in the district.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been expanding LEAP by adding tutoring and contracting with certificated teachers to support that effort,鈥� Ceja said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to make the program as seamless as possible, like an extension of the school day.鈥�
Ceja has experience in so many areas of the LBUSD. She started as a substitute paraprofessional, before being hired full time. Then she worked as a bilingual clerical aide. She took a position as an office assistant while earning her BA at Stanislaus State, and was promoted to office specialist after her graduation. That led to a job at Stan State helping 吃瓜头条 students transfer to the university before she returned to LBUSD.
Ceja isn鈥檛 done. Her goal is to become an elementary school administrator. She鈥檚 well on her way, stockpiling experience and knowledge of how schools operate.
鈥淚 have a 1-year-old, so this job works for me now,鈥� Ceja said. 鈥淢y next step is to become a teacher, then an assistant principal, and on from there. I just submitted my application to the credential program at Stanislaus for the fall.鈥�
Ceja glories in the chance to inspire budding educators like herself at LEAP.
鈥淚 tell them that, in afterschool programs, they鈥檙e already running their own classes鈥攐f course they can become teachers,鈥� Ceja said. 鈥淚t feels so nice to be the person who opens that door. That鈥檚 what everyone at 吃瓜头条 did for me.鈥�
Even after earning a BA at Fresno Pacific University in 2018, Torres has returned to 吃瓜头条 three times to earn additional certifications.
鈥淚 wanted more,鈥� Torres said. 鈥淎nd the help around campus鈥攃ounselors, financial aid, librarians鈥擨 used all of those resources and still remember those people. They made my life so much easier.鈥�
Sylva-Bailey said each of her professors keyed her journey back to Los Banos.
鈥淚 never thought I鈥檇 accomplish reaching my profession, because I started life with such difficult socioeconomic challenges,鈥� Sylva-Bailey said. 鈥淚 never would have except for the professors who taught me. They saw in me what I could not, so I owe them a lot.鈥�