With a career characterized by hard times, pushing herself, and being able to make an impact on herself and others, Evelyn Sanchez, known as Ms. Sanchez to students, is a new math teacher at Mayo High School this year.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Ms. Sanchez is Hispanic and has a great love of her heritage and culture. She lived with her grandparents for most of her life. Being a quiet girl while growing up, Ms. Sanchez isolated herself from others, focusing on studies and individual activities; however, each year of school made her bolder, happier, and more involved in activities.
Walking into the first day of kindergarten wasn’t nerve-racking for Ms. Sanchez as for others it usually is. The second she walked into the class, she felt a sense of belonging and knew instead of her kindergarten teacher being up there, she could be the one teaching the class one day. Engaging in learning, she found her true passion that day, and from there it was up to Ms. Sanchez to make it come true.
Ms. Sanchez’s love of math came from her grandfather, who used to play math games with her when she was little. It was something that became a passion for her over time. As she grew into her teenage years, she had spinal fusion surgery. Recovering from the surgery took time and made things a little more challenging, but her time at school pulled her through; she was involved in “nine clubs” and loved being with her friends; her greatest joy, though, came from learning. Still it was at this time, in high school, when her dreams were almost pushed away and cut off.
High school wasn’t very hard for Ms. Sanchez, but some things were, and she had to face her math teacher’s negative demeanor. Her math teacher would tell Ms. Sanchez she wasn’t going to be a professional in math and that she should just quit instead of trying to get into any harder mathematics classes. When it came to algebra, this teacher’s negativity drove Ms. Sanchez to push herself and keep going no matter what kind of negative criticism she received. Spending long hours studying lessons, watching math videos, and practicing problems, Ms. Sanchez began teaching herself the concepts that held her back. She taught herself, even when her teacher would not be bothered with her. Not only did she remain and succeed in advanced math classes, she then managed to qualify and compete in state for 3 years when she joined the math team for her high school. During that time, she was even the region champion in mathematics. Without a doubt, the fire had been set; Ms. Sanchez was inspired: math was her passion. Ms. Sanchez graduated from Willowbrook High School in 2020.
Ms. Sanchez went to the University of Saint Mary’s and began studying reading, researching, and learning new concepts about math and education. She was soon able to do double the work in college and managed to earn her math degree in May of 2024. Ms. Sanchez had made it, “from going back to living with her grandparents, working at her dad’s factory, not being so good on money to being a teacher at Mayo High School.” Knowing her grandfather had been diagnosed with cancer and being the only one in her family who had achieved something as great as her diploma, she knew getting to making her dreams come true wasn’t over yet. She knew that it would fill them with great happiness. Two weeks before graduation, her grandfather passed away, but he knew that she was well on her way to achieving her dreams.
Ms. Sanchez used to think her life story was sad, but now she feels empowered. She’s confident within her job and is willing to face classroom management dilemmas, an array of student behaviors, but is always happy and excited to see her students grow and learn, moving into their futures.
Living the “teacher life” now is stressful, but Ms. Sanchez knows she worked hard for this, and the criticism her old math teacher gave her just taught her to work harder and believe in herself more.
She hopes to get her master’s degree one day and realizes the challenge of being a full-time student while continuing her teaching. After earning her masters, Ms. Sanchez hopes to push on an earn a PhD in mathematics, with a goal of teaching on the university level.
By all means Ms. Sanchez isn’t just a math teacher but someone who faces difficult times in her life and manages to overcome those obstacles. In addition, when she was young, she was told she was going to be a failure but that’s what gave her more strength to keep going and moving forward. “Life goes by fast, and dreams should be everyone’s priority, and if anyone hasn’t found their passion yet, they will one day,” Ms. Sanchez stated.
Above all she hopes to make an impact on someone even if it’s just one person and also doesn’t just want her influence to be isolated to math. Instead she wants to help students find their passion. Being inspirational is something that can make a change, and Ms. Sanchez clearly believes that “education is important.”
To all of the students at Mayo, Ms. Sanchez says, “Don’t give up on your dreams. Nothing’s easy, but as long as you’re willing to work for it and no matter what you do, you’ll be unstoppable.”
