Ashley Cohen
Staff Writer
Jose Castillo officially took over former Mira Costa Spanish teacher James Hands’s position on Sept 23 when Hands took a new job working for Manhattan Beach Unified School District’s English Language Learner’s program.
Hands was accepted to the position on Aug 22, but it was not made official until a replacement teacher for his classes was found.
“Castillo comes highly recommended by everyone involved in the hiring process and I’m excited for him to be able to work with the great students we have here at Mira Costa,” Hands said.
The ELL program is designed to help MBUSD students not fluent in English become more fluent in English. Hands will be overseeing testing, placement and program evaluations for ELL students at all MBUSD school sites.
“I’m happy to have the opportunity to work with these students and help them become more assimilated into our school district and community,” Hands said. “I know I’m going to miss teaching Spanish to all of my high school students.”
Jose Castillo will be teaching Spanish levels one and two for the 2014-15 school year. According to Castillo, he was interested in moving to the Southern California area so he applied immediately once he discovered the job opening.
“Teaching at this school seemed like a great opportunity for me professionally,” Castillo said. “The job seemed like a great fit for me and I’m very grateful that I’ve been given this opportunity.”
Castillo earned a Master’s degree from New York University in Spanish Education K-12 and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. He has been teaching Spanish at all levels in the California area since 2009.
“I’m very excited to work with the my new students and the incredible Mira Costa faculty this year,” Castillo said. “Everyone, including Hands, has made this transition as smooth as possible for me.”
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