Melissa Vasquez graduated from UW in 2010 with a double major in Spanish and Elementary education with a certification in early childhood and middle school education. While at UW, she was part of the Professional Development School cohort that sought to leverage the intersecting contexts of school, university, and community to prepare skilled and caring teachers for urban schools. Before she was a Badger, Melissa grew up in Lima, Peru and moved to Madison, WI when she was in middle school. Much of her experiences in education led her to UW-Madison and shaped her personal and professional goals.
Since she was in high school, UW had always been Melissa’s dream school. Not only was it close to home, but UW also had one of the top Education programs in the country. Melissa pursued a degree in Elementary education because she felt that her experiences as an English language learner weren’t always empowering, and she wanted to change the experiences of future multilingual learners to ensure that educators had the same high expectations for them, and students would be able to see themselves as very capable learners and not just English language learners.
After graduating from UW, she was a founding teacher of the Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Program at Midvale Elementary, leading the inaugural kindergarten class. Her time in the classroom was so rewarding because it was so gratifying to see young children learn and help them believe in themselves and that they can do anything.
6 years later, her former principal encouraged her to work for the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) as a dual education planner. She took her passion from the classroom to the district level to support existing DLI programs and start new ones at the elementary, middle, and high school level. After 3 years, she moved to a role in the office of Curriculum and Instruction with MMSD that focused on elementary school biliteracy and the implementation of curricular resources where she created and facilitated professional development for the second largest school district in Wisconsin.
After 13 years with the school district, she left in June of 2023, in what seemed like a full-circle moment because her first ever kindergarten class was also graduating high school. Because of her work with the implementation of resources for MMSD she worked closely with Benchmark Education Company, and she was sought after by Benchmark to bring her talents to their organization. In July of 2023, she assumed her current role as an Instructional Design and Training Specialist where she supports the design and creation of English and Spanish curricular resources. While her heart will always be in the classroom, she is excited to have an impact on education at a higher level by influencing and developing curricula that will be taught to students across the nation.
Since graduating from UW, she has earned a Master of Arts in Bilingual Education and Learning from Edgewood College in 2012 and in 2023 earned her Master of Education in Literacy from the American College of Education. She also recently presented at a national conference for dual language education.
Melissa has many fond memories of her time at UW, from nights out at Logan’s and dancing at Cardinal Bar to the amazing friendships she has made. She credits her involvement in Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. (KDX) as a formative experience. Through KDX she has met amazing women, many of whom have become lifelong friends. She felt the mission and vision of KDX aligned with her personal goals and her involvement with the organization prepared her for many future roles she would take on. She served as treasurer and would later assume the role of the sorority’s president. In advice to current Latinx students, Melissa urges them to first find their support network and to rely on each other to keep each other motivated and hold each other accountable. She also suggests getting involved and to assume leadership roles within your organizations because the skills you gain will be invaluable and beneficial to you in your personal life as well as a professional. For other Latinx alumni she offers this piece of advice, “It wasn’t easy for me to leave the only employer I have known as a professional but after some introspection, I decided it was the best move in many ways” and urges you to “know your worth and that might mean taking some risks.”
Outside of her day job, Melissa recently started an LLC to provide consulting services for school districts to support their implementing and maintaining of DLI programs.
Melissa enjoys traveling and spending time with her wonderful family of three. Her husband is a UW alum and current UW employee and her three-year-old daughter loves Bucky Badger. In fact, “Bucky” was one of her first words!
You can connect with Melissa via her LinkedIn.