“Aurea has an incredible passion and determination for teaching. Her students lead and run the classroom. She teaches in a way that her students not only learn the content, but love learning. ... She treats everyone with dignity and always goes the extra mile without hesitation.”

Aurea was born and raised in Cleveland, with parents who came from the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. She is the first of her family to graduate from Cleveland State University with both a bachelor (early childhood education) and master degree (curriculum and instruction; bilingual endorsement). Aurea is now taking the first steps toward pursuing a doctoral degree in personalized learning curriculum with research in ESL/ELL learning.

Aurea has been teaching for a total of 14 years, of which eight have been at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Luis Muñoz Marín Dual Language Academy. She is a third grade teacher. Her motto for her students is  “I can do it. I WILL try!” This allows her students to see how to learn from their mistakes and accomplish what they want to learn. Aurea takes great pride in showing her amazing students that trying always makes them do more.

Aurea’s goals in life are not only to be a successful teacher and make a difference in her students’ lives, but to be an amazing mom. She has been married for ten years to Edward Caraballo and has two beautiful daughters, Amaya and Amaris. She strives every day to show them how to become independent, strong, Latina women, and that they are capable of great things in life.