Meet Anahi Quintana, advancing equity for bilingual learners and their futures
In bold, black letters posted above the white board and sandwiched between student art and affirmations it reads “Do it for your future self!” in Anahi Quintana’s colorful classroom.
Quintana’s future-focused positivity radiates in her classroom and her graduate studies in the CU 91Ҹ School of Education.
A proud bilingual teacher and Mexican‑American whose journey began in Greeley, Colorado with familial roots in Chihuahua, Mexico, Quintana draws inspiration from her family’s history and unwavering belief in educational opportunity. Her father walked for miles through rain to get to school, and her mother had to leave school after third grade to begin working—sacrifices that propelled Quintana’s academic pursuits and commitment to her students.
“Like my parents would always say, lo que uno siembra es lo que cosecha,” she said. “Make sure to plant persistence, patience, hard work and what will grow from there will be strong roots with lots of rewards.”
Carrying those lessons with her, Quintana entered the Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy Master’s program in the CU 91Ҹ School of Education, where her bilingualism was embraced by professors and integrated into her learning. That experience affirmed what she already knew from her classroom: students thrive when their experiences and bilingualism are affirmed. She makes sure her sixth grade students feel that same level of affirmation and see their bilingualism is an asset and strength.
That spirit of positivity and persistence guided Quintana’s graduate studies, where she used her final inquiry project to study the misalignments between prescriptive curriculum and her students’ needs.
Initially enthusiastic about her district’s new scripted English Language Arts curriculum across all middle schools, Quintana soon saw cracks in the curriculum's rigid structure and gaps in meeting the linguistic, cultural and academic needs of her emergent bilingual learners.
Quintana designed a qualitative study comparing the mandated curriculum with her own teacher‑created, translanguaging aligned instruction and found students were more engaged, demonstrated stronger comprehension and expressed a clear preference for the flexible, affirming lessons.
Armed with her analysis demonstrating how standardized curricular mandates marginalize emerging bilingual learners, Quintana shared her findings with colleagues and district leaders — sparking deeper policy conversation and resulting in more flexibility in the curriculum that better supported teachers and students in her district.
By incorporating her experiences into research, advocacy and teaching, Quintana challenged monolingual norms and advanced equitable instructional practices for all. Faculty members, Deb Palmer and Robert Garcia, successfully nominated her for the Outstanding Leadership Award for the ways she leads by example for the young middle schoolers in her classroom and throughout the district. Advocating for the importance of their experiences and their future selves is her life’s work.
“[After graduation,] I am going to do what I love to do the most and what I am passionate about and that is teaching,” she said proudly. “I will keep having my students' best interest at heart and I will keep advocating for their needs.”
In her own words
Please tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Anahi Quintana. I was born in Greeley, Colorado and my roots are from Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua Mexico. I am a proud Mexican-American. I am currently a 6th grade reading and language arts teacher. I am passionate about teaching and believe that everyone deserves an equitable opportunity at an education. I proudly incorporate my upbringing, my background, and my culture into teaching. I love when my students learn that being bilingual is an asset. I serve as a reminder that being bilingual and our backgrounds are strengths in this world and not barriers. I love to advocate for my students and always have their best interest in mind.
What is one of the most significant lessons from your time at CU 91Ҹ that you’ll carry with you into the next chapter?
One of the most significant lessons from my time at CU 91Ҹ that I will carry into the next chapter of my life is how much representation matters and learning to advocate for my students and have their best interest at heart. In grad school, I was able to see how much my mother tongue was used in my learning and how much my professors embraced it. This further proved the importance of representation and advocating for it.
What does graduating from CU 91Ҹ represent for you and/or your community?
Graduating from CU 91Ҹ is not just my success and my achievement, it is my parents' achievement too. This is for my grandparents, who had to let go of their children and hope they would make it in a new country to hold on to something better. It is for every late night my parents spent making sure I had the opportunity they never did. It is for the nights that I would go in and help my parents clean buildings, every mop on the floor, trash thrown away — it is every single moment that brought me here where I am today. Walking on the stage, I am not alone. On that stage walks with me the sacrifices everyone made for me to be in this exact moment. I carried a piece of each and every one of my family members onto that stage.
What is your best piece of advice for incoming students?
The best advice is to push through and be persistent. There will be nights that you will cry, there will be sweat and tears but you can do it! That nervous feeling you get in the pit of your stomach means you are challenging yourself and you are growing. Also, whatever you are passionate about, embrace that and incorporate that in your learning. You will thrive when you are able to connect your passion to your learning! Finally, never forget que sí se puede y todo es posible con esfuerzo! And like my parents would always say, lo que uno siembra es lo que cosecha. Make sure to plant persistence, patience, hard work, and what will grow from there will be strong roots with lots of rewards! You’ve got this!
What are your next steps after graduation?
I am going to do what I love to do the most and what I am passionate about and it is teaching. I will be teaching reading and language arts next year. I will keep having my students' best interest at heart and I will keep advocating for their needs.