Cragin Elementary School

Oscar is one of Cragin Elementary’s newest staff members, having joined at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year. But so far, they have loved this new adventure in their life. 

“The community is so much more intertwined than I thought it would be,” Oscar said. “It really brings everything together. It lets me see every little spark of life and it’s really inspiring to me to see all the big differences.” 

Throughout their day, Oscar tries to slip in some American Sign Language in their interactions with students. It’s something they are learning and, in turn, like teaching to students. It leads to special little moments each day. 

“I love Cragin and I love TUSD so far,” Oscar said. “And I want to come back again and again, even though it’s my first year.” 

Originally from Los Angeles, Cynthia moved to Tucson four years ago to join her mother, who resides in the Old Pueblo. Cynthia was looking to teach dance, which she had 20 years' worth of experience in back in LA. 

As a child, Cynthia was very introverted and had low self-esteem, so her mom put her in dance classes to help bring Cynthia out of her shell. And it worked. She excelled in dance and soon that translated into a new-found confidence.  

Now, as an arts integration teacher with a focus on theater and dance, she is able to help her students grow in the same way she did through dance. 

“It’s amazing,” Cynthia said. “It comes full circle.”

More than two decades ago, Kim used to babysit the children of a former Cragin teacher. Through that connection, Kim learned of a substitute teacher vacancy that needed to be filled. Shortly after, Kim was brought on as a full-time teacher and has been at Cragin for 22 years now. 

Through her time at Cragin, some of Kim’s favorite memories are from the garden. When it was at its peak, it produced an abundance of produce. Staff would collect any extra produce and distribute it to different groups.  

“We would collect the extras and give them to the fire department,” Kim said. “I remember going with a box of stuff that came from the garden, and I was running up and down the parent pickup line trying to get rid of carrots because we had so many.”