Fabricio Velez finds his breakout role
Principal Fabricio Velez shares his unlikely story as a classically-trained dancer from Ecuador who became a champion for English language learner students.
Principal Fabricio Velez shares his unlikely story as a classically-trained dancer from Ecuador who became a champion for English language learner students.
Growing up in Ecuador, Fabricio Velez had dreams of being on stage.
“I don’t know why I was interested in theater,” he said. “I was from a small town that was very agricultural—we didn’t have theaters, movie theaters or anything that would resemble that.”
Despite the slim chances of actually landing his dream career, he moved to the country’s capital, Quito, to go to college and major in classical theater with a minor in art. His mother had always encouraged him to pursue his passions, and it would pay off. He eventually found a slot as a dancer in the Ballet Ecuatoriano de Cámara, or Ecuadorian Chamber Ballet.
In the winter of 1998, Fabricio was invited to Colorado to audition for the Aspen Ballet. While he was auditioning in the U.S., he fell in love with Colorado.
During his time in the U.S., Fabricio wanted to immerse himself in the English language. He started pursuing a teaching degree in Colorado and began taking English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.
I was doing dance, so I had the dance language. I was going through school, so I had the academic English. I had a lot of friends, so I had social English.
Fabricio sought out any opportunity—no matter how challenging—to practice English. This included taking on jobs outside his comfort zone, like working as an attorney's assistant, to learn different ways English could be used.
Within six months, Fabricio graduated from his ESL classes. He credits the rapid pace of learning to his theater training, which taught him how to think outside of the box and to put himself in different roles.
Soon after graduating, Fabricio applied to become a paraprofessional, or teacher assistant, to continue developing his English skills.
By now he could carry on a conversation, but could he teach English to non-native speakers like himself?
When Fabricio was offered the principal position at his current school, he was told on more than one occasion how he was inheriting a "well-oiled machine." This was a peculiar term to Fabricio. As time went on at the school, Fabricio began to see the machine wasn’t so well-oiled.
We’re not a machine. We’re human beings. We’re a living, breathing organization. So we had to give the organization a heart.
Within three years, Fabricio transformed his middle school’s culture into one that emphasizes “dignity and respect.” The positive results that have come from this change can be charted in improved testing scores, staff retention, and perhaps most importantly, anecdotal feedback from students and parents.
Throughout Fabricio's career, social labels have been both baggage and badge. As a gay, Hispanic immigrant with an accent, Fabricio can look back at the many times his work received pushback because of these labels.
Seeing many students who came from the same immigrant background he did, he found it necessary to act as a role model for them.
Fabricio explained how Fabricio the person is actually timid, soft-spoken and unlikely to take risks and stand up for others. However, Fabricio the educator is a starring role in which he can be a champion for students who see themselves in him.
In 2000, Fabricio was presented with the opportunity to help teach a middle school class for English language learners. His classroom was especially diverse, he recalls, with students with backgrounds from all over the world.
Being a second language learner myself, being an immigrant and Latino, I felt I had a connection with these kids.
After seeing how well he performed with his students, the school's principal offered him a job as a teacher.
I had no prior training other than my training as an actor. I think that served me well.
During his first year as a teacher, Fabricio put on a theater performance for his class. He worked with students—whom he affectionately refers to as his “kiddos”—to help them write a script, act in and direct their own play. His class wanted to tell their stories about how they came to the U.S.
It was equal parts heartbreaking and therapeutic, Fabricio recalls.
Some of the students were taken in the middle of the night because of their war torn countries. Some of them came through barbed wire borders. The stories were painful, but it was also beautiful for them to be able to tell them.
By his third year as a teacher, Fabricio’s school plays were garnering a bigger and bigger audience—getting up to 300 spectators, including the superintendent. By then his classroom had become a model classroom for observation, and there were many visitors stopping by to watch and take notes on his lessons.
There are a lot of misconceptions about who we are as a group. The immigrant community. The Latino community. The second language learner community.
Fabricio wanted to end negative stereotypes by creating a positive experience with his students, and demonstrating how students with immigrant backgrounds could succeed in this country.
Fabricio Velez is a middle school principal at School District 27J in Brighton, Colo. With more than 17 years of experience in K-12 education, he specializes in English Second Language (ESL) courses, curriculum development, blended learning, at-risk students and instructional design.
He is a classically trained actor and dancer, with a passion for theater.
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