Luis Vivas grew up in Madrid, Spain, where he lived with his parents, sister and grandmother. He obtained his degree in Elementary Education with a focus in English. While his original trajectory was to study Special Education, his plans changed 12 years ago when he moved to Minnesota to work at an IB Spanish Immersion school. IB was a new perspective for him, which he fell in love with. During Luis’ career, he has been a PLC facilitator, teacher mentor, and equity trainer for colleagues. One of his goals as a classroom teacher is to create a sense of community where everyone has a voice and feels safe to participate and share ideas and opinions. Also, Luis values giving students the opportunity to take ownership over their learning. Professionally, Luis thrives in learning from new experiences and challenges. When he is not working, he enjoys cooking, listening to music, watching movies and spending time with his husband, his kids, and his dog.