ALUMNUS SPOTLIGHT: JUAN OLAZARAN
Juan Olazaran has had an amazing and storied career as an educator. Born and raised in Tamaulipas, Mexico, he started his teaching career in Oaxaca where he worked in a two-teacher school on Zapotecan Mountain with his colleague teaching first to third grades and Juan handling all subjects from 4th through 6th grade. In 2007, Juan immigrated to the United States and began work as an elementary school teacher with the Woodburn School District in Oregon.
"My perspective as a teacher in Oregon is from the outside," Juan said. "There are a lot of differences between the Mexican and U.S. educational systems. When I arrived here, I had to redo my bachelor’s degree and the testing that followed was very challenging."
However, one of the things that helped Juan fulfill his goals as an educator was his participation in the College of Education's Dual Language Graduate Certificate Program, which enables teachers to add this specialization to their teaching license.
"When I heard about the Dual Language program, I said ‘that's what I like to do! That's what will help me grow and help my students grow as well!’"
Juan completed the program in Fall of 2024 and put it into immediate effect in his fifth-grade classroom.
"The program was very well planned and helped me build on what I already knew as a native Spanish speaker," Juan said. "It helped me make more connections to my students and their families, navigating those diverse worlds and recognizing what strategies would work better for some students... The variety of Spanish spoken in the United States is incredible. I'm always trying to transmit an understanding of those linguistic differences to each student and their parents — and they’re expecting a lot of me now. It's made me more aware and empathetic to their needs."
Juan's skill and dedication have been noticed not only by his students and their parents but also by his colleagues. Last year, Juan’s principal nominated him for The Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) Teacher of the Year Award. The award acknowledges the efforts made by Dual Language Bilingual Education classroom teachers on behalf of multilingual students. Juan won the award in February 2024.
"Winning that award was one of the most amazing moments of my life," said Juan. “It also reminded me why I’m here, why I’m a teacher. There are many ways you can grow as an educator and the best is by obtaining new experiences and skills and learning to collaborate. These things have taught me that my support is not just for my students, but for their entire families and community… If a student thinks my class is boring, I have to ask myself what am I doing wrong?”