Lifting Students Up: Take Five with Catherine Caceres

Take Five is a series that highlights members of the CPS community who are going above and beyond for our students. All throughout the 2024–25 school year, we will be spotlighting our amazing CPS teachers! If you know a teacher who is making a difference, nominate them to be featured here.

Meet Ms. Catherine Caceres, a fourth-grade teacher at McCormick Elementary in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. Ms. Caceres is known for her caring and enthusiastic teaching style, as well as her ability to build up students’ confidence and support their social-emotional needs. As an educator, Ms. Caceres strives to help her students grow as both learners and people. And to her, seeing this growth throughout the year is what makes the teaching profession fulfilling.

“Ms. Caceres always lifts students up and calls home to let parents know when there's something positive to share,” said Nicole Levonyak, a school-based therapist at McCormick. “We work together as a team to support our students, and they have shown marked improvements in attendance and overall emotional regulation. Ms. Caceres’ impact has blown me away.”

Learn more about Ms. Caceres below!

You’re known for your ability to care for your students’ social-emotional needs. How do you accomplish this?

I try to build up all of my students’ confidence, no matter what. If they can’t do everything, I make sure to celebrate what they can do, praise their effort, and give them plenty of encouragement. I want to build my students up, because it helps them find joy in learning and coming to school. When they’re happy and confident, they’re more motivated to learn!

What are your favorite skills or units to teach?

I love teaching every subject, but especially reading and social studies. There’s a certain flexibility to those two subjects where there's not always one right answer, and I love when students are talking through big, open-ended questions with each other. At McCormick, there’s a big focus on accountability and encouraging our students to take ownership of their learning. It brings me a lot of joy to see students develop their own opinions and engage with each other in group discussions, because it means they’re playing an active role in their education.

How would your students describe you?

Energetic, caring, and positive. They could probably even quote me at this point. I’m always saying things like, “thank you so much for sharing your very intelligent answer!” I think they would also say that if someone is ever absent, I always make sure they know we missed them when they come back.

What is special about the McCormick school community?

This community is amazing; everyone is so kind and supportive. It might be common in certain workplaces for people to talk behind each other’s backs, but that never happens at McCormick. Everyone is willing to help each other out, so you never feel alone. Last year was my first year at McCormick, and I was met with so much support and kindness. This is a place that really helps you grow.

What do you like to do when you’re not teaching?

I’ve been finding a lot of joy and passion in reading for fun recently! I did so much reading in college that I had to take a break for a while, but I’m back and I’m having fun. I also love to dance and play beach volleyball in the summer.