Economics teacher Caralyn Saldarriaga has become a staple in the Trinity Prep community, connecting economic concepts to everyday life through her unique teaching style and activities. However, after three years of teaching at Trinity, she is preparing to begin a new chapter in her life.

   “I tell my students on day one that, whether they realize it or not, they are individual participants in the economy,” Saldarriaga said. “All of us are consumers, and then sometimes we create businesses, and then we’re the business side of the economy. I think (economics) helps students better understand the world that they live in.”

   Saldarriaga’s passion for teaching began long before she initially entered the workforce. As a high school student, she found joy in tutoring her peers and helping them grasp difficult concepts.

   “I always somewhat enjoyed teaching when I was in high school,” Saldarriaga said. “I always liked to tutor and help other students, and some of my teachers saw that I was willing to help others. I was always told early on that I would be a decent teacher.”

   Saldarriaga’s teaching style is similar to that of a college professor, where traditional lectures are balanced with interactive activities in order to keep students engaged.

   “You have to keep it engaging in some sense because you have to try to capture the minds of the students,” Saldarriaga said. “When I can make it engaging, I find that the students really do enjoy those classes and those activities.”

   Senior Nikolas Polsinelli believes that these interactive activities are valuable, especially for understanding specific concepts like production.

   “There was this one time we had to put Lego pieces together to simulate production,” Polsinelli said. “Those types of things I thought were helpful for understanding specific concepts.”

   However, this unique approach to teaching took time to perfect. Over the years, Saldarriaga has refined her methods through student feedback, choosing to teach in ways that students report suit them best.

   “I have personally grown as a teacher,” Saldarriaga said. “I have been pushed to improve my own teaching practices by reflecting on my own lessons and learning from student feedback. I figure out what works and what doesn’t work and make changes along the way.”

   As she continued to develop over the years, she also had the opportunity to watch her students progress and overcome challenges, notably with difficult concepts, including supply and demand, inflation and monetary policy.

   “I think it’s super rewarding when you see a student who has struggled for a while and then, through their own means of studying or finding resources or having me explain it to them in a different way, they finally have a breakthrough moment,” Saldarriaga said.

   For Polsinelli, this growth came through developing stronger attention to detail over the course of the class, a skill he found himself applying in other subjects as well.

   “A lot of the time on the graphs and things, I was making some really dumb mistakes,” Polsinelli said. “As the class progressed, I learned to have more attention to detail and stop making those mistakes. Even the little mistakes, they really do alter the graphs a lot.”

   For Saldarriaga, the most rewarding aspect of her job goes beyond merely helping students succeed — it’s also the personal fulfillment that she gains from watching students grow and sharing her knowledge with others.

   “(My) favorite aspect of teaching would just be sharing my knowledge with the students,” Saldarriaga said. “I’ve also found, personally, that as I teach the material, I learn it better and understand it better, even myself.”

   Now, as she prepares to leave Trinity, she looks ahead to a new role offering not only more focus in her professional life but also more flexibility in the long term.

   “I’m still teaching, but my new role is online teaching, so I’m looking forward to having a full schedule of just teaching,” Saldarriaga said. “I look forward to working from where I want. I get to schedule my time how I see fit. We look forward to starting a family. I have so much more flexibility with this new incoming position.”

   Although her time at Trinity is coming to an end, her impact certainly is not. Saldarriaga leaves behind more than just lesson plans — she leaves behind life lessons.

   “If I could give any of these students a few words of advice, it’s just to slow down,” Saldarriaga said. “Enjoy life right now. Enjoy having a limited amount of responsibilities. Call your mom, call your dad and love your family. Stay close to good, true friends. Enjoy life and stop obsessing and stressing over what college you’re going to get accepted into.”