Veronica Padilla is an English and ESL teacher at Omaha South High who has been teaching for 21 years. Padilla said, “I worked in Mexico for 15 year and six years in the U.S.,” she said. Padilla has taught at South High School for about four years. During her first two years in the U.S., Padilla was also a team member at the Latino center.

Padilla said she moved here after teaching in Mexico because she wanted to continue growing her academic skills and her progress in life. How did she end up in Omaha? “I just called my brother one day and asked him where I should move to, and he said here in Omaha, Nebraska.”

Padilla said she was in her early 20s when she decided to become a teacher. “I had to start thinking about life, and I thought about what I loved best, which was my children and English, so I decided I wanted to be an English teacher.” Padilla decided she wanted to work at South High School because of the culture, age and maturity of the students.

Padilla said she wanted to work at South because she has a licencia en lienciatura en secundaria which is a bachelor’s degree. “I also wanted to work here because I felt like I belonged, and I was attracted to this school,” Padilla said. Padilla added that she has always wanted to be a teacher from the start and does not plan to retire any time soon.

Padilla said she is from Chicago, and when she was 11, she learned Spanish from her Mexican parents. Interests Padilla said she had in high school were “playing volleyball, taking a nursing course and reading in my free time.” Padilla said she enjoys reading because it is something she loves to do. Padilla said she did not continue pursuing a nursing career because she had four children and wanted to be an English teacher.

Padilla’s interest now is getting closer to God, going to the gym, walking her dog and of course reading. Padilla said she has had many accomplishments.

“One of my biggest accomplishments is taking 10 students to a BEO (British English Olympics) contest in England and France. My second biggest accomplishment was receiving recognition in Mexico for being the best teacher in 2017.”