Hello. My name is Danny Zuniga Torres (Pronouns: he/him/his/el) and I am the Integrated Learning Support (ILS) Teacher for Lopez Elementary School. I have lived in the Fort Collins area since I moved here from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico when I was three years old. Growing up in Fort Collins, I attended Irish Bilingual Elementary School, Lincoln IB World Middle School, and Poudre High School (IB World School). I am a native bilingual speaker of English and Spanish. While I was attending High School I also worked at McDonald's, Fort Collins Country Club, King Soopers, and the Car Wash on North College. I enjoy traveling; my first solo travel was to California to meet some family at 15 years old! Since then I have been able to visit other parts of California, Kansas, New York, Texas, Florida, New Mexico, and Utah. I have two dogs; one is a Border Collie/Australian Sheppard and the other is a Schnauzer/Terrier Mix.
I started my educational journey at Front Range Community College and graduated with an Associate of General Studies (AGS) and a minor in Psychology. I then transferred to Metropolitan State University of Denver and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BSSW) with honors (Magna Cum Laude). I am currently completing a Master of Arts (MA) in Special Education (K-12 Generalist) and an additional teaching license in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Bilingual Education (K-12 TESOL) at the University of Northern Colorado.
I previously held the position of Family Liaison and Graduation Advocate at Poudre High School, where I focused on working with students who qualify for McKinney-Vento, Migrant, or Foster Education support and services. I focused on working with families who recently arrived in the U.S. from another country. Over the years I have had the privilege of working with students from Early Childhood Education (ECE) to High School ages. I am entering my 6th year working across multiple areas of education in the Poudre School District.
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Reading
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Traveling
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Nature/Outdoor Activities
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New and Diverse Foods
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Concerts and Music Festivals
My teaching philosophy uses a trauma-informed and equity-centered lens to create a student, family, school, and community partnership. This collaboration helps students and families, who recently arrived from another country and have limited English language abilities, to navigate and stay informed with their local educational agency. As the ILS teacher this looks like supporting our students with diverse needs and abilities to navigate their lives as independently as possible using a strength-based and student-centered approach. My priorities are safety, diversity, and inclusion.