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What It's Like to Teach in the Corps: Network Connections

Science teacher Krystal Coronado is dedicated to providing her students an excellent education, with the help of her Teach For America network

By The TFA Editorial Team

October 2, 2019

This series highlights the deep connections between students, corps members, teacher coaches, school staff, and other alumni across the Teach For America network. In this episode, we meet Krystal Coronado, a 2018 Indianapolis corps member and science teacher at Enlace Academy in Indianapolis.

The Teacher

Krystal Coronado (Indianapolis ’18) is a science teacher at Enlace Academy where she teaches students ranging from fifth to eighth grade. During her day, she works to ensure her students are thinking deeply and more critically. When she is faced with a challenge, her support system and TFA network are ready to help.

How Principals Support Teachers and Students

Meet Cody Whitesell, a 2008 Indianapolis corps member, and school leader at Enlace Academy, whose time in the corps gave him the tools necessary to provide opportunities for the students he serves. 

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How Coaches Support Teachers

Meet José González, a TFA teacher impact coach who works closely with corps members during their two-year commitment to help them develop their teaching skills.

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Supporting Schools at the District Level

Meet Jamie VanDeWalle, a school administrator who oversees a group of schools that are finding innovative ways to drive strong student achievement.

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What It’s Like to Be a Student of a Corps Member

Meet Geraldine, a seventh-grader at Enlace Academy who is passionate about science and dreams of one day becoming a computer programmer.

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Join the Corps

Redefine opportunities for students—and yourself—by applying to teach as part of the Teach For America corps.

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'My Whole World Is Surrounded by These Kids': Transcript

I come here and I feel it's a lot like home. It’s very family-oriented and I think that’s part of Latino culture. We take people in, we just love on them, and it’s all about loving people because we can.

My name is Krystal Coronado, I am a 2018 Indianapolis corps member, and I’m a science teacher at Enlace Academy.

My students have a huge drive to learn. They want to understand. They want to comprehend. Honestly, being a teacher is making sure you attend to every different child and the way they need to learn because some kids are not writers, some kids aren't readers, so you need to have that creativity again to be a child again to reach them. And I really hope that what I’m doing here in the classroom is reaching them further than just understanding science concepts. I want them to understand the aspect of critically thinking further into what’s put in front of them. 

Sometimes I find it so difficult because I’m the only science teacher, and it can be so lonely because it just feels like you’re the only one doing it, even though you have the corps of 80 other people that are doing it with you, but Cody constantly tells us we’re a team, we're a team, we're a team. Cody provides me a lot of support in class. He was a corps member so he understands all of the struggles … he can understand exactly what I’m talking about, what I’m going through and understand me emotionally, not just as a teacher, but also as a person, and I need that constantly, to be seen other than just a teacher, but a person.

My coach José provides a lot of support, I think as a friend. He comes in maybe like once a month to see how I'm doing, what I’m doing, and what support I need from him. So it’s always—what can I do for you? What support do I need? 

I can say my whole world is surrounded by these kids. They make me happy and they make me sad and they make me frustrated, and they take so much from you that you don't think they would. They don’t intend to, and they don’t mean to, but I'm so thankful to have come to a school where they just provide a lot of emotional support, it’s just this loving energy, it's just a big family.