As a Bay Area native, Samuel McCoy is glad to be working with students from backgrounds he resonates with as a co-Teacher in Holly Chenette’s Spanish class.

Samuel graduated from University of California, San Diego with his bachelor’s degree in Political Science in 2011, and then earned his preliminary teaching credentials for English in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua. Before coming to Eastside, Samuel worked at Sequoia High School and Mountain View High School and is now at Eastside through STEP (Stanford Teacher Education Program) to earn his master’s degree in Education and teaching credential for Spanish.

After graduating, Samuel studied in Egypt, participated in the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps and attended UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico).

“The beautiful thing about Latin culture is that, since I’ve had the chance to live abroad and live in Latin countries, I see it as a culture that anyone can embrace,” Samuel said.

In his free time, Samuel creates music, attends dance classes, and continues his passion for languages, currently learning Latin and Italian.