This story appeared in the 2025 edition of Full Circle magazine, which you can access here.
Christie Westly ’18, always knew she wanted to be a teacher. “My inspiration started very early in my life with my kindergarten teacher,” Christie says. “She instilled the love for learning in me.” As Christie grew, so did her childhood dream, especially when she realized how deeply her family was invested in education. She heard stories about her great-grandmother, who was a kindergarten teacher, and about her grandmother’s experiences as an art docent at Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University. Even her father, who worked in the private sector, decided to become a college lecturer.
Now as an adult, Christie regularly visits the kindergarten teacher at her old elementary school. Except now, instead of explaining the ABCs and shapes, that teacher is Christie’s beloved mentor and professional peer. The two enjoy talking shop and discussing new educational trends.
Christie currently teaches 3rd grade at Springer Elementary School in the Los Altos School District, just a few miles from where she grew up. Third graders captured her heart right away when she was student-teaching: so much so that Christie has never considered working with other ages. “They’re still at that age when they love going to school, they love learning and arts and crafts and also rich discussion,” Christie explains.
She knows that a good teacher doesn’t only impart knowledge, but also forms character and confidence. It’s a lesson she traces back to Castilleja, and it happens to align with the school’s five C’s: conscience, courtesy, character, courage, and charity.
“When I came to Castilleja, I was on the quieter side and I still am, but it also opened a horizon of ‘Hey, I can really do anything I want.’ And I had a lot of friends who also felt that way. Nothing was really stopping them. They were pursuing whatever passions that they had,” Christie remembers.
Castilleja is also where Christie learned about the power of the school community. “The teachers and the staff cultivated community among their classes and among their grade level,” remembers Christie. “It wasn’t an experience I had before I got to Castilleja. It was very intentionally planned with advisories and a support system in place.”
Since leaving the Circle, she’s noticed that this support structure doesn’t always exist at every school. That’s why Christie works hard to change this every day in her own classroom. For example, she loves getting students excited about math and science, yet she is also aware of the enduring—even if implicit—bias against girls in these disciplines.
“I am more cognizant of looking out for the female students in my class, especially around those STEM subjects,” says Christie. She tries to strike a balance: whenever she calls on two boys in class for an answer, she will also call on two girls. “Hey, you can enjoy that too! It’s not just something that the boys get to do!” is the message she wants to send.
When her students undertake a group task, she’s noticed, the boys often tend to take control of the projects. However, “if you change the task a little bit or make the group sizes smaller, you can see the shift. The girls are a lot more engaged,” explains Christie. She also loves studying educational approaches and new technologies, as well as seeing how students learn math through interactive apps and educational websites. Christie is involved with choosing the science curriculum for her district. She encourages students to ask questions and to engage with hands-on projects, videos, and with each other, be it about how magnetism works or how much weight a bridge can withstand.
“My teachers at Castilleja were knowledgeable and dedicated to their subjects. The high quality of teachers and their own educational background and experiences are very unique and special to Castilleja,” Christie says. “It helps me strive to be the best I can be, so that I can teach in an effective and engaging way.”
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