Staff Spotlight: Sebastian Jindra-Cotilla, Instructor at BCS Education Center

Could you start by telling me your name and your position at the Ed Center?

Yes, my name is Sebastian Jindra-Cotilla. I’m the GED teacher, and I teach English language arts and math. I’ve been working here at BCS since January. Before that, I was actually a food pantry coordinator in the Bronx. I’ve always been working at the intersection of agriculture and food systems and education. At one point, I was in the Peace Corps in Paraguay doing agricultural education at a high school.

How did you make the transition to BCS?

I have a degree from Columbia and they have a GED program, so I was up there working as a student. Then, I worked as a GED tutor at Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow. So, I’ve done GED stuff before, and I’ve been working in education on and off.

What does your classroom typically look like? Is there a lot of diversity in your student body?

The first learning cycle I taught, it was almost exclusively women from Sunset Park or Bay Ridge, so it was a lot of Latina women and Arabic-speaking women. But this semester, I see people coming from all over: Staten Island, one student from Queens. I think it really depends. My understanding is, a lot of it is word of mouth. Last semester, a lot of the people knew one another or knew somebody who knew somebody. 

Do you find that there’s a sense of camaraderie amongst your students? 

We try to make it so that there’s a community aspect to it. We have these community groups that we’re constantly revising and revisiting. BCS has all these activities that aren’t just for the GED program. There’s a job fair; there’s a health fair; there’s a Know Your Rights training. Students stick around for that stuff. 

What are your favorite aspects of the job? 

On the math side, I really like it when a student understands the concept. What seems very basic sinks in finally – just like that spark of recognition. That’s really cool. And on the ELA side, I really enjoy just opening students to new perspectives: reading together, looking at art together, responding, and learning whether or not they enjoy something.

Have you ever had anyone come up to you saying, “Wow, you really changed my perspective” or, “I really enjoy reading now”? 

Yeah, definitely. We do an activity in class pretty regularly where it’s a debate. They choose different sides of the court, or I assign them to different sides. It’s important to adopt a perspective that they wouldn’t normally. So, you know, it’s moving the needle a little bit, and that’s awesome.

Do you have any goals as to how you want to shape the program moving forward? Or ways that you see your teaching evolving?

[Program Director Aaron Cooper] and I – we’ve already changed the format. Where before it was just one math class, now we have two. We’re also changing things so that [students] will be getting math every day and ELA every day, rather than every other day. So, a lot of movement around the margins to try and help students’ learning. Also, just getting a better sense of the population that I’m working with and understanding that everybody has certain baggage that they’re bringing. It’s about working on the emotional side of the educational experience.