Hello, we are the Del Muros! 👋🏽
From school through career, we are here if you need us.
The power of mentorship
Mentors that I had during my years in secondary and higher education propelled me to want to start the Latinx Education Coach because these individuals made all the difference in my ability to persist and ultimately graduate with my doctorate in Educational Leadership from UCLA in 2019. Although mentorship is critical to ensuring that students are supported throughout their schooling, the truth is that not everyone has access to a mentor. Cultivating a mentor relationship with an institutional agent at college, university, or on the job can be difficult. With this being said, I hope to be able to serve as a stand-in for your education and professional mentoring needs.
Dr. Ces'Ari Garcia-Del Muro
I’m a multi-generational Latina of Mexican and Native American descent. I’m from Los Angeles County and was raised in Baldwin Park, CA by a working-class family. I’m also a first-generation high school and university graduate – UC Irvine Anteater (’10 B.S., Political Science), Arizona State University Sundevil (’12 M.S., Secondary Ed.), and a UCLA Bruin (’19 Ed.D., Educational Leadership). I’ve learned a lot of lessons throughout my educational journey and love sharing my knowledge with others to hopefully make their experience easier.
Latinx teachers: representation needed in education
Furthermore, I have been an educator since 2010. I joined Teach For America (TFA), an Americorps program, after graduating from the University of California, Irvine. I taught 7th grade Earth Science for 2 years while pursuing my master’s in secondary education at Arizona State University. I was 1 of the handful of teachers of color at my school site and in the science cohort within TFA. During this time, I realized how underrepresented teachers of color are in education and decided to stop studying for the LSAT and instead, chose to make education my permanent field of study.
I’ve been in education ever since! However, some things have changed a long the way. First, I transferred my credential from Arizona to California. Then, I switched subjects and began teaching English, my true passion. My experience teaching English includes 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 12 grade; English Language Development (ELD 1 and 2); and English as a Second Language (ESL). English has always been my favorite subject, but when I started college, I soon realized that I was not as strong a writer that I believed I was. I was determined to fill the gaps in my knowledge and spent years working on developing my skills. Given my struggles with mastering English as a native speaker and seeing friends, family, and students struggle too, I know how important it is to have an instructor who behaves more like a coach – providing constructive, clear feedback.
Mr. Jorge Del Muro
I married my college sweetheart. We started dating summer of 2009 at UC Irvine as undergraduates when we still thought we were pursuing law school.
I am a first-generation high school graduate and college graduate too. However, I am not a multi-generational Mexican-American like Dr. Garcia-Del Muro; I am a first-generation Mexican-American.
Our generational differences have taught us a lot and have grown our understanding of the Latinx experience.
Since we met while in school and continued our educational journeys together, we have a strong partnership and a lot of patience and empathy when it comes to trying to balance work and life.
As a first-gen college-going student and formerly incarcerated youth, my higher education journey began in 2005 at Orange Coast College, where I earned an A.A. degree. Then, I transferred in 2008 to the University of California, Irvine, receiving my bachelor’s degree in Chicano Latino Studies and Political Science with honors. It was during my time at UC Irvine that we first started dating, I shared with my now wife the struggles I was enduring as a formerly incarcerated person navigating higher education for the first time. I was fortunate to have a great mentor at UC Irvine and the help of Homeboy Industries to expunge my record. Expunging my record allowed me to have a second chance when entering the job force. In 2016, I completed my Teach For America corps service in Los Angeles, and earned a multiple subjects credential and a Master’s in Special Education from Loyola Marymount University. I now have 14 years of experience in k-12 education, non-profits, and higher education. I am currently a 7th-year middle school special education teacher and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support coordinator (MTSS) serving students in a community who share similar experiences to myself.
Dr. Del Muro and I have been married since 2011 and are still teachers. In a million years, we never would have thought we would have both become educators, but we are so glad that we did!
Teaching is a lifestyle and it helps when your partner is in it too. In our free time, we both enjoy traveling and spending time with friends and family.
When we were first dating and during our early years of marriage, we were both BROKE college/grad school students who dreamt of being able to take trips, become homeowners, and be financially secure. I’m keeping it real. Back then, we were not as fiscally responsible, I have learned how to save and we both have become more financially literate.
I say this because as first-gen students, we didn’t know what the future held, but we knew that we were willing to work hard together to make it happen. We’ve been able to take our dream trips, buy a home, and become financially secure. I call it “balling on a budget.”
