Poetry Inside Out Teaching Fellow Spotlight: Jewel Sanchez

Jewel Sanchez is a 5th-year English teacher based in Oakland, California, currently teaching at San Leandro High School. She works in the Newcomer Pathway program and teaches Sophomore English, focusing on empowering English language learners through equitable and inclusive instruction as a dedicated social justice educator.

I am excited to explore new ways of using translation as a tool to support English language learners. Too often, classroom approaches to language prioritize English at the expense of students’ home languages, leading to a sense of erasure or othering. I look forward to engaging in the work of decolonizing language instruction, particularly for second-language learners, and creating spaces that honor and celebrate their linguistic and cultural identities.

I have a lot of interest in haiku especially after reading the works of Matsuo Basho: The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

I am an avid hiker and often carry a poetry book with me on the trail. It’s a unique experience to connect with a poem and its author, sharing a sense of place and perspective, even though we exist in different times.