Sonia nieto culturally responsive teaching

At age 6, Sonia Nieto decided to become a teacher. At age 10 she finished her first novel. But it took much more than ambition and determination to propel Nieto from her childhood home in a Puerto Rican enclave in Williamsburg, N.Y.

to a long, productive career as an educator and writer.

It took some luck—and a change in zip code.

In discussing her memoir, Brooklyn Dreams, with a packed house March 3 in New Main Great Hall, Nieto noted that her family’s move from a poor neighborhood to the middle class Flatbush community was a significant factor in her life.

Attending Erasmus Hall, one of the best high schools in New York City—complete with tutors, honors classes and middle-class peers actively planning to attend college—balanced out the fact that she felt invisible as one of the school’s three Puerto Rican students.

Having the good fortune to attend Erasmus allowed her to pursue further education and her dreams.

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