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Jillian Casarez wins ExCEL Award for Somerset ISD

Somerset Independent School District's 4- and 5-year-olds have a teacher who already has them thinking about becoming scientists, engineers, and artists.

Somerset Independent School District’s 4- and 5-year-olds have a teacher who already has them thinking about becoming scientists, engineers, and artists.

It's hard to believe looking at the outgoing group of Pre-K Head Start students at Somerset Early Childhood Education that many of these children were bashful when they started school.

“Something I always tell my parents, if your child is shy, by the time they leave my classroom, they will no longer be shy. They will be excited about learning," teacher Jillian Casarez said.

Casarez was born to be a teacher, something her grandmother saw in her early years.

"She told me, 'Jillian, you've always been the pied piper of children.' I knew I had to find something to do in life with children," Casarez said.

Now, in her eighth year in the classroom, she encourages her little ones to think big. She has stations set up in her classroom where her students can pretend to be doctors, architects, and artists.

While they are learning, they are having fun.

"We do the 100 game and we dance," 5-year-old Lily Hernandez said.

"She is so good!" 5-year-old student Iszabella Burris exclaimed.

"She's super great," said 5-year-old George Martinez, heaping on the praise.

"I teach them that life is fun. It's okay to be silly. It's okay to be goofy. It's okay to make mistakes because mistakes are how they learn," Casarez noted.

She rewards the children with praise when they fall short.

"My goal is to change the world one child at a time and help them become better people and life-long learners," Casarez said.

As the Pre-K Head Start teacher in Somerset, she is leading her students down a path filled with the joy of life-long learning.

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