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Rising Star Public Middle School Teacher-Maria Pelayo

Teaching a Transition Age
Pelayo connects middle school students with literature and writing

Maria Pelayo has lofty expectations: she wants her seventh graders to appreciate the relevancy of literature to their lives. Not an easy task, but one she thinks is entirely possible.

Her students can see that others have struggled with the emotional confusion of adolescence by following Holden Caulfield’s story in “The Catcher in the Rye.” They examine current controversial issues by reading “Inherit the Wind,” a play based on the case of Joseph Scopes, a high school teacher in Tennessee who was arrested for teaching evolution to his students in 1925.

“I don’t believe in censorship,” Pelayo said. “I really look at this age group as a transition group. People wonder whether they are kids or adults, but the truth is that they are neither.”

Pelayo moved to the United States from Mexico when she was 3 years old. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in English, she worked for six years in a variety of jobs, including stints in the insurance, public relations and entertainment industries. Before she made her career change, she worried that it might be difficult to leave her private-sector salary behind. But when she became a teacher she moderated her standard of living and has no regrets.

Now her focus is middle school, and that includes discussing issues of sexuality in the classroom. It’s what students are talking about anyway, and she maintains that it’s better for them to learn about it at school than from each other. “[Adolescence] is often sold as a chaotic stage in life, but it’s completely normal,” she said.

Pelayo finds creative ways to connect students with the literature she’s teaching. She had her students develop a play list of songs that might help Holden deal with his anxiety and confusion.

“What Holden Caulfield is asking about at age 16 in the 1940s is what 12 and 13-year-olds are talking about today,” she said.

When students were studying “Inherit the Wind,” Pelayo asked them to act out the characters. Giovanni Quattrochi, who will be 13 in September, played the role of the arrested teacher.

“Before I started learning with Ms. Pelayo, I didn’t really know that much about literature or writing. But throughout the year, I’ve really been able to grasp it through different ways,” Quattrochi said. “I feel like when I’m in the class I’m learning every second.”

Most parents are happy about the discussions Pelayo is having in class. The biggest complaint she gets is that she gives students too much homework. But Pelayo believes her class can handle it, and she has faith in her students—sometimes more than they have in themselves.

“She’s done a wonderful job,” said Priscilla Quattrochi, Giovanni’s mother. “I’ve seen a shift in his thinking about what he’s reading. I think he’s become more sophisticated in his understanding of literature and the ability to read between the lines. His writing has really blossomed with her.”

— Lucy Kennedy