Carolina Gieczewski teaches her third graders Spanish with a virtual trip around the world. In Argentina, the students learn about tango and the traditional poncho. In Mexico, they learn about the chile and chocolate sauce mole poblano and the national bird, the Golden Eagle.
“I want them to see that Latinos are like ice cream,” Gieczewski said. “We come in every flavor, and we are all different. We are vibrant, and we each bring a different aspect to the table.”
Gieczewski teaches Spanish to third, fourth, and fifth grade students in the West Hartford Public Schools system. She teaches her students about the food, clothing, music, and sayings of different Latin American countries, including her home country of Argentina.
“Argentina, just like the United States, is an immigrant society,” Gieczewski said. “Everybody is from somewhere else, or everybody's grandparents are from somewhere else.”
Gieczewski grew up in a multi-cultural home. She is a first-generation Argentine on her Italian mom’s side, and second-generation Argentine on her dad’s side. Her paternal grandparents were from Italy and Poland. Gieczewski was surrounded by languages, she said.
“My dad speaks a Marchegiano (Italian) dialect with his family. In my mom's house, you can hear Calabrian spoken. In our house, we spoke Spanish,” Gieczewski said. “We went to school and we learned English, and then later on, French.”
This upbringing instilled strong values of language, culture, and education for Gieczewski.
“To me, it is very important to keep the culture alive,” Gieczewski said, “to pass on those traditions and to pass on the usage that we bring from our home countries.”
Gieczewski is a recognized leader in her field. The Connecticut Council of Language Teachers named her the 2025-2026 Language Teacher of the Year. However, Gieczewski said she wouldn’t have found her way if she hadn’t followed her passion for education.
A big career switch
Gieczewski came to the U.S. to study at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She graduated and worked as an attorney for about four years, practicing civil law such as personal injury, immigration and family law.
“I grew up in that environment,” Gieczewski said. “My mom is a lawyer. I worked with her in the courts in Argentina.”
Yet through all those years, Gieczewski said she never found any passionate energy for the work that she did.
It wasn’t until her third year of law school that Gieczewski found that spark, when she studied education law. She wouldn’t feel it again until she volunteered for Street Law, a program where she would teach young adults in New Britain about how law affects their daily life.
“I would come out of that room completely energized, thinking, I need more of that,” she said. “Less lawyering, more of that.”
Switching careers, however, wasn’t a move Gieczewski took lightly. It took her 15 months of thinking it over before she made the switch, she said.
“It had taken me eight years to become a lawyer,” Gieczewski said. “It is not something that you simply turn away from.”
Once Gieczewski entered the ARC program, the state’s accelerated teaching certification program, she said she felt at peace among the other language teachers.
“After I made the switch, happiness came to me,” she said. “I am happy teaching, and it's been 20 years in a blink. Twenty years of teaching, and I am still going strong, and I still love it.”
‘You are what you do’
Throughout the school year, Gieczewski brings in community members of various Latino backgrounds to speak to her students about their experience getting into the field they’re in.
“The most beautiful thing that happens is that these people will say to the students, this is the journey that my life has taken,” Gieczewski said. “This is how I became successful, and so can you.”
For Latinas who may be still finding their way, Gieczewski recommends a similar approach.
“Go visit people, if you can,” Gieczewski said. “Where are you going to work? Who are you going to work with? What are you going to be doing every day?”
Being exposed to different people from varying paths and backgrounds can help the journey in discovering your purpose a bit easier, Gieczewski said. She also suggests seeking out a mentor once you’ve found the path you want to take.
“I always say to my students, ‘you are what you do’,” Gieczewski said. “So who are you going to be?”
Gieczewski said she plans to keep teaching language and culture, so future generations grow up as strong, empathetic thinkers.
However, it took a big change in her life plans to get to this point, so take the time to discover the values that align with who you are, she said. There’s no need to rush things, she said, despite what societal expectations may suggest.
“When you have clarity and you have purpose, and you work hard towards that purpose, and you infuse it with love,” Gieczewski said, “it will come out well.”
This story is part of the series Poderosas: Portraits of Purpose, highlighting Latina leaders in our Connecticut communities.
