In a brightly lit classroom at Escuela de Guadalupe, bilingual teacher Tegan Crean Voils engages her middle school students in a discussion about Animal Farm by George Orwell and the symbolism behind its characters. “By the end, I always ask them—are you glad we read about Stalin first?” she says with a smile. “And they tell me, ‘Miss, I would have missed half of this if we hadn’t!’”
As a teacher of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade English literacy and 8th grade social studies, Tegan seamlessly blends her love for literature and history.
“The two go hand in hand,” she explains. “Both require critical thinking, reasoning, and writing. One is more figurative, the other factual, but together they create a fuller understanding of the world.”
Tegan helped build Escuela’s English curriculum from the ground up, selecting books that challenge students and spark deep discussions. Her 8th graders read All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, Night by Elie Wiesel, Animal Farm, and Persepolis, a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi about the Iranian Revolution.
“The theme for the 8th grade year is good and evil—are humans inherently good or bad?” she says. “You’d think by the end, after reading all of these difficult books, they’d say humanity is awful, but there are always these little moments of hope in each book. It’s important to show them that.”
To Be or Not To Be … a Bilingual Teacher
Tegan’s journey to the classroom may have been preordained, though indirect. She grew up in New England and her mom was a teacher at the Catholic school two doors down from their home. That is also where Tegan went to school.
“I literally grew up in that school building,” she recalls fondly.
Tegan says she was drawn to literature and history from a young age. But when she told her father she wanted to major in history, he was skeptical.
“What are you going to do with that?” she recalls him asking, laughing. The professors at Tegan’s alma mater, Providence College, reassured Tegan and her father that a history major could lead to a variety of career paths – and Tegan tried many different avenues. Despite feeling a calling toward teaching, she spent three years in the business world after college to explore her options.
“I hated it,” she says. “I was just like, this is soul-sucking. What am I doing that’s actually benefiting society?”
Clearly, Tegan belonged in education. She went back to school and earned her Master’s in Education from Boston College, specializing in secondary education with a focus on history. The program’s emphasis on bilingual education helped prepare her for a bilingual teacher role she didn’t even know was waiting for her—at Escuela de Guadalupe in Denver.
“My mom’s side of the family has been in Denver for five generations,” she explains. “It was pretty much one of the only places we ever vacationed because my one living grandparent resided here and my parents were determined that we would know her growing up.”
So, in February 2020, she took a leap and moved to Colorado—just before the world shut down due to COVID. “Horrible timing,” she jokes. “A month later, the pandemic hit, and everything changed.”
Despite the uncertainty, she applied for a bilingual teacher position at Escuela de Guadalupe. Within days, she interviewed and was offered the job.
Finding a Home at Escuela
Starting a teaching career during COVID came with its challenges. “Everyone wore masks. We had face shields. Kids were six feet apart. They stayed in the same room, and we teachers rotated,” Tegan recalls. “They even had buckets for their stuff because we couldn’t use lockers. It was wild.”
Yet despite the difficulties, she was grateful to be teaching in-person. “For me, it was better than trying to teach through a screen. At least I knew they were learning and having a human connection, even if I didn’t know what half their faces looked like for a year and a half.”
Tegan’s family often teases her for taking a different career path than the rest of them. “They’re all in business, making great money, and they joke, ‘Well, you’re the one making the world a better place.’”
For Tegan, teaching isn’t just a job—it’s a calling. “I knew I couldn’t spend my life in a job that felt soul-sucking. Teaching is the only thing I’ve ever tried that I’m truly passionate about.”
She also knows she’s found something special at Escuela. “I hear the nightmare stories from other schools. I know the grass isn’t greener elsewhere.”
The strong sense of community, high academic expectations, and dedicated students make Escuela a place she loves to work every day.
“The families here see education as a privilege, not just a right,” she says. “They’ve bought in. They value learning. That makes all the difference.”
