Jennifer Carrillo’s goal is simple: to be the kind of teacher her younger self needed.

Growing up as the daughter of parents who did not finish high school, Carrillo understands the unique challenges Hispanic students face. Now, she uses her role as a math teacher to empower students who look like her.

“Oh wow, she made it out. So can I make it out too?” Carrillo said. “So when I was looking at places to work, I knew I had to work at a place where the majority of the kids were Hispanic, because it means more to them to look at someone and be like, ‘You look like me.’”

Carrillo does not sugarcoat it – math is not everyone’s favorite subject.

“When people ask me what I teach, I say it’s the most hated subject. What do you think it is? And they always say, ‘Math,’” she said. “It’s hard. It’s either right or wrong – and that’s what students don’t like.”

But Carrillo believes in meeting students where they are, especially when they feel like giving up. Her approach starts with getting to know her students personally, not just academically.

“I always tell my students that I care about them as people before I care about them as students,” she said. “Once they know that, they’re willing to work with me.”

Her students notice this. They often tell her, “Math sucks, but you’re a cool teacher.”

“I feel like the kids don’t want to disappoint me,” Carrillo said. “Even if they don’t know what to do, they try. Because when they try, I can help them.”

Students and colleagues alike recognize her impact.

“I admire Miss Carrillo for all her hard work, intelligence, her honesty, her pure kind soul, and everything she’s achieved—and still is,” former student Stephanie Alfaro said.

Her colleague, math teacher Molly Salerno, added, “She holds her students to high standards, which can be tough, but she’s also the go-to person when someone needs a trusted adult.”

Carrillo says she wears many hats in the classroom – mentor, educator, emotional support – and she embraces that responsibility.

“I care a lot about my students. On Fridays, I tell them, ‘Bye, have a great weekend. Love you,’” she said. “These kids are more than just my students – I genuinely care about them.”

Her path to teaching was not linear. Carrillo initially pursued accounting after being inspired by a host family while studying abroad in France. But the subject didn’t feel right.

“It was so boring,” she said. “There was no way I could do it for the rest of my life.”

She quietly switched majors, afraid her parents would not approve.

“I knew if I told them first, they’d say no. And then I’d be stuck in a career I wasn’t happy with,” she said. “Even though in their eyes it wasn’t the most ‘impressive’ job, I had to do what felt right.”

Carrillo also credits a mentor named Mike, who once told her to leave emotions out of tough conversations—a lesson she now applies in her own classroom.

“I don’t say, ‘I feel like you’re not trying.’ I go back to the facts: missing assignments, assessment scores,” she said. “That way, it’s not personal. It’s honest.”

And her students respond to that honesty.

“She’s also a great friend,” Salerno said. “She checks in when you’re having a rough day, goes out of her way to make sure you’re okay, and makes everyone laugh.”

Alfaro echoed that: “She’s passionate about helping every single one of her students and being there to support them, no matter the situation.”

Carrillo works hard to create a safe, supportive space.

“No one in here has the right to judge anyone for trying,” she said. “If I, as a classroom teacher, don’t judge, then classmates don’t have the right either.”

Her greatest successes are the students who come in struggling – then grow into confident learners.

“I feel like my greatest successes are always going to be those kids that started off the year really rough, and then you really work with them, and they see that the teachers here care about you,” she said.

As a student, Carrillo did not always feel celebrated at home, but her teachers filled that gap.

“We were never celebrated for our accomplishments,” she said. “The only people who ever did were my teachers. I still, to this day, remember my third-grade teacher, Mr. Soko. He made such a big impact.”

That’s the impact Carrillo hopes to have now.

“I want to be that person someone remembers—years later,” she said. “Maybe when I’m not even here anymore. I want someone to say, ‘Carrillo believed in me.’”