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Spanish teacher at Stanford's East Palo Alto Academy honored by U.S. Education Secretary

Misla Barco
Misla Barco

Spanish teacher at Stanford's East Palo Alto Academy honored by U.S. Education Secretary

Misla Barco received a surprise phone call from Arne Duncan, who personally thanked her for her commitment and dedication.

Learn more about Misla Barco's work as a teacher at East Palo Alto Academy on Stanford YouTube.

Misla Barco, a high school Spanish teacher at East Palo Alto Academy, was immediately suspicious when she was asked to be at Vice Principal Jeffrey Camarillo's office for a recruitment meeting at 7:30 a.m.

“He kept texting me, ‘Don’t be late. Don’t be late,’” Barco recalled. “I was thinking, this isn’t for recruitment. I was so worried.”

The nine-year veteran of the academy, a charter school operated by Stanford’s School of Education, was, indeed, in for a surprise.

When she arrived at Camarillo’s office, she was handed the phone.

“I wondered if I was in trouble. I took the phone and this person said, ‘Hi Misla.’ I said, ‘Hi,’” she recounted. “‘This is Arne Duncan, secretary of education. Do you know who I am?’”

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