First generation graduate prepares to share passion for learning

Abigail McQueen  |  05/24/2024

Recent graduate and math education major Yaire Portillo will begin her new journey as an eighth-grade math teacher with Metro Nashville Public Schools this upcoming school year. In May, she graduated with an undergraduate degree in education. As she anticipates her future, she also takes time to reflect on how Lipscomb helped her achieve her dreams.

Portillo grew up in a Salvadoran-Honduran household in Nashville. During high school, she worked as a teacher’s aide and a tutor, which inspired her love of teaching math.

“I enjoyed providing insight and knowledge about the patterns in math and the correlation between all the topics and ideas learned in each subject area,” she says.

During her senior year of high school, Portillo decided to attend Lipscomb University because the professors had already shown her meaningful support and opened up valuable connections. She was also impressed by Lipscomb’s education program. As a first generation college student, Portillo entered Lipscomb as a Pionero Scholar. The Pionero Scholars Program is a scholarship and outreach program that seeks to create a local pipeline of students returning to teach in their home communities.

Portillo says Lipscomb’s math and education departments have been her “strongest support systems,” and have helped her advocate for her needs.

As of May, Lipscomb has produced 22 alumni who have graduated from the Pionero Scholar program, and 33 students enrolled in the Lipscomb Educator Scholars program for the 2024-2025 school year.

She especially remembers how Kristin Baese, associate professor of education, inspired her. “The love, empathy, and curiosity that she shows are characteristics that I want to apply for the rest of my professional and personal life,” she reflects. “Her words of advice have made me feel appreciated and seen throughout my work and experience as a student teacher.”

She is also grateful for the “dedication, love, and support” from Laura Delgado, program director of Lipscomb Educator Scholars, during her time at Lipscomb.  

As Portillo looks forward to teaching full-time, she says, “It continues to feel unreal. I still feel like a freshman that has so much to learn.” However, she is also excited, saying, “I cannot wait to see these kiddos and learn about the greatness that they will achieve in and outside my classroom.”

Of her entire Lipscomb journey, Portillo reflects, “Being a Bison has given me the best opportunities that I could have ever asked for. The professors, the education and the practicals have made me who I am today, and I hope to spark an interest in math and education for my future students in the same way.”