Echoes of various cultures ring out in the classroom, united by a single voice, belonging to Ms. Shelley Ekaye. Since college, Ms. Ekaye has been passionate about teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to both children and adults. She has attended many programs for ESL, with her talent in teaching the subject enhanced by her experience in studying many languages. With a diverse resume of previous professional ESL experiences and a strong passion for the subject, Ms. Ekaye joins the Westwood community to teach ESL. 

“I have been teaching ESL since 2014, by starting off teaching adult ESL in New York City for a couple of years,” Ms. Ekaye said. “I then taught high school and middle school ESL with a company called Education First, known as EF. I also [actually] taught freshman English, 7th and 8th grade English, [and even] middle school newcomer English, and now I am back to teaching high school ESL.”

Although Ms. Ekaye is proud to have lots of experience teaching a variety of people, she credits her prosperity in the field to her ability to remain strict on the same philosophies she’s had for 10 years.

“I believe in sociocultural teaching, which means that we celebrate every culture [and] every different type of learning,” Ms. Ekaye said. “Everybody is working together in partners and groups, [which is important] especially with ESL using all four [unique] areas of teaching like listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as incorporating music and movement [in learning] to have fun!” 

A distinct characteristic of many jobs in growing subject areas, Ms. Ekaye noted that when looking for a position in ESL, many schools were willing to offer a quality ESL teaching opportunity. However, Westwood stood out to her primarily because of its statistics, which reflected the caliber of the community and the learning environment.

“I did see that there was a job opening [here], and [as] I was researching the Round Rock [area], and Westwood, and it just seemed like a great district and a great school,” Ms. Ekaye said. “When I saw that it was an IB campus with great A ratings, and just really impressive achievements and a very diverse student body, I was inspired actually.”

Before teaching ESL, Ms. Ekaye spent time studying different languages, which, according to her, immensely helped her pursue her ESL teaching career without her even knowing it at the time.

“I studied Japanese for four years in high school, [and] I then studied Russian for three years in college,” Ms. Ekaye said. “One of them was a year abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. I actually also know a little bit of sign language because I had friends who were hearing impaired, so Japanese, Russian, English, [and] a little bit of sign language.”

Before settling down as a teacher, Ms. Ekaye explored a diverse spectrum of other professions, including flight attendant. However, while her decision to become a teacher came later in her career journey, her path to ESL came about rather quickly, with Ms. Ekaye discovering her passion for teaching the subject at the very start of her time in the education industry. Since then, she has been teaching for 10 years. 

“I thought about [teaching ESL] for a long time, I would say [from] when I was finishing my degree in Russian and Eastern European studies. Some people who were at the study-abroad program with me actually taught ESL there in Russia. I thought about that a lot, but I ended up being a flight attendant for 10 years, so that was my first career,” Ms. Ekaye said. I traveled the world with two different airlines, and then I thought, ‘well why don’t I just go back and get my master’s and teach ESL so that I can kind of do something intellectual but also have students [and] people from around the world.’”