We are proud to have Greta Guerrero on board as our WRADvocate from the American School Foundation of Monterrey in Mexico! The American School Foundation of Monterrey is a private, non-profit, independent, international day school providing a U.S.-type education to international and Mexican students.
Greta is the Nursery Team Leader at the school, where they teach young students the English language while using the Spanish as a support language when needed. In their program, children get more familiarized with the second language, and their use of English increases. Additionally, the program Greta leads also places a strong emphases on developing early literacy skills. We are excited to have an international representative on board to spread the power of words to the world!
To learn more about Greta, read on below:
1. How has what you've read influenced you professionally?
I studied Spanish Literature as my major in college. I read and analyzed many books, authors and literary genres. They all influenced me in life and gave me the tools on how to recognize a good book or a good story and enjoy it or simply be touched or moved. When I became a preschool teacher eleven years ago, I read picture books since day one, and each story, even if it is a short one, has something to teach me. I become in touch with the characters and with the lives of the authors; I can read between the lines of the story and discover great things. I discover new worlds and the experiences of a person, feelings everyone experiences, and it reminds me that we are not alone.
2. It is said that stories and poems teach values. Is there one value in particular that has inspired your life and your good work that might connect back to a book that was either read to you or that you read on your own?
Giraffes can't dance is a story that has inspired my life by accepting everyone as a unique individual with a special gift. Every person should be valued and respected as a human being, and everyone deserves the right to live in a peaceful world where they can fulfill their lives doing what they want to do and accepting who they are. Most of all, the story inspires us to be happy.
3. What do you think is most essential for teachers, parents and caregivers to do in order to nurture a child to become a lifelong reader?
Good readers should treat the "reading moment" as a magical one, as a privilege. They should read in a way that the child wants to keep reading to find that magic in the reader's voice and imagination. The tone of voice, the way we handle books like treasures, the way we refer at a story with our own personal reflections, should influence every chid.
4. What do you think the future holds for readers?
If every child has the opportunity to be in contact with technology and are taught to use the tools wisely, they have the biggest library in their hands! Hopefully, everyone has a chance to use technology as a bridge to access any online book with the specific theme each reader is interested in, and can motivate them to keep on reading forever!
5. Will you share with us some final meditations on the power of the read aloud and of reading in general to the emotional lives of children and for all people?
I believe every single human being deserves the right to read. Each person should be able to imagine, to dream, to believe... If we teach young readers that they are blessed with the ability to read, they will understand that the future is in their hands. They must undertand that as a readers, they need to commit and spread the seed amongst other non readers around their lives. Mexico needs true readers who are willing to share their gift. Poverty in our country is around the corner, but we can start here in our community, set the example, as I believe we need to start changing our world. To obtain peace, people need to think and learn and discover and create. If we plant the the seed around our future readers, they will lead us someday, and we will be living in a better world.
Thank you for joining us Greta!
