SEHD Teacher Candidates Abigail MeKonnen and Luz Moreno Honored During Colorado’s Future Educators Honor Roll Event at the Colorado State Capital

Abigail grew up in Centennial, Colorado. She got her start in education as a tutor for other Ethiopian families in her neighborhood. Abigail has been a member of our NxtGEN Undergraduate 4-Year Residency program, working as a para-educator intern and now a professional year resident in professional development schools in both Denver Public Schools. Her passion for teaching inspires others and her connection to students continues to be a great strength. She also believes in the strong connection between school and home and enables many of our multilingual families to feel at home because she speaks three languages. Along with this, she truly understands sheltered English and is able to translate and scaffold many classroom directions and lessons to accommodate second language learners.

Luz considers herself to be from Boulder, Colorado; El Paso, Texas; and Aurora, Colorado. She comes from a family of teachers, most notably her grandparents, who passed down an innate love for learning and pride in education. Luz has been a member of our NxtGEN Undergraduate 4-Year Residency program, working as a para-educator intern and now a professional year resident in professional development schools in both Denver Public Schools and Cherry Creek School District. She has been an outstanding leader serving as president of BESO (Bilingual Education Student Organization). She has worked with dedication to bring students together in teacher education to learn more and take action to advocate for culturally and linguistically diverse students and families, bilingual education programs, and educational equity. Luz is a dedicated leader and passionate advocate for culturally and linguistically diverse education.