(WOODBURN) — Jessica Larios’s classroom is almost always open and rarely quiet.
Larios teaches English as a Second Language courses and Spanish Composition at Woodburn High School. In her classroom, students talk, move, laugh, sing, and sometimes even eat lunch, as Larios curates her space to make learning a new language feel fun and unintimidating.
Before becoming a teacher, Larios worked as a juvenile probation officer, counseling youth and helping them navigate through the courts and life decisions. There, a coworker told Larios she would make a great educator, a suggestion that ultimately shaped the rest of her life…