Manuel Cartagena is a high school history teacher in the Chandler Unified School District, sharing his passion for history. In 2012, he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in history (secondary education). More recently, he graduated from SHPRS with a master’s in history in 2018. We asked him about his time here at ASU and how his degree is helping him in his professional life.
Question: When did you graduate from ASU? What degree(s) do you have?
Answer: I graduated in December 2012 with my Bachelors in Secondary Education/history from ASU and then graduated in December 2018 with my master’s in history from ASU. I also have two degrees from South Mountain Community College: an associate in arts and an associate in general studies from June 2010. I am not your normal college student. I started college in 1995-96, dropped out a few times, had a kid and a family, then went back to college in 2007.I had like a 10-year semester break (haha).
Q: Why did you pursue the degree that you did?
A: I pursued my master’s in history because I knew that it would help me in my teaching career. Almost everyone in education gets a master’s in education to get the pay bump or go into administration. I knew I did not want to go into administration, but I knew that I could further my career in a different way with a master’s in history. I know that I want to teach at the community college or university level at some point in my career. I can also offer my students dual enrollment credits at the high school level with the classes I teach; and it makes my resume strong. A master’s in history gives me more options with my teaching career.
Q: What was the most memorable humanities class you took at ASU? Why was it so memorable?
A: I really liked every class in my program. They really helped me with my teaching career. They were all so interesting and well put together classes. The different history topics that I got to choose from were amazing. I am a history nerd, so I really enjoy reading about most history topics. One that sticks out was about the ‘60s. The books that were chosen to read were amazing.
Q: What is your current job? Tell us about it.
A: I am currently a teacher in the social studies department chair at Chandler High School. I teach dual enrollment Honors World History, International Baccalaureate (IB) History and IB Sports Exercise Health Science; as well as coach badminton and JV boys soccer.
Q:How does having a humanities degree help you in your job? What did the humanities teach you that helps you professionally?
A: The humanities taught me that everyone has their own story to tell and that their story should be told. I use that every day in my teaching life, especially with my students. I make sure to cover the lesser-known contributors in history during the school year. I also like to give my students free range on some projects to let them choose people they want to learn about.
Q: Are there any projects you are currently working on that you would like to share?
A: No projects that I am working on now. A past project was helping to bring African American and Mexican American History classes to Chandler High and our district. My colleague, Russ Tribby, was responsible for the African American history class and I was responsible for the Mexican American history class. Both classes are dual enrollment offered to 10th-12th graders as an elective.
Q: What is one piece of advice you would give to current humanities majors?
A: My advice would be to be adventurous with your degree. Take that trip to see a historical place. Read that book or even write that book or article. Take that job out of state or out of country. Go teach for a semester or year. Just enjoy what you are doing and who you are doing it with because it is tough out there and you might as well have fun while doing it.
