Balancing Act: 'I want them to see you can pretty much go anywhere': CPS Spanish teacher selected for National Geographic Fellowship

CHICAGO - The pale blue cinder block walls of Cara Bucciarelli's classroom are mostly hidden by verb conjugations and posters of Spanish-speaking countries and bins filled with textiles from Peru and other educational accoutrements.

"What I think about a lot is how you make the unfamiliar familiar," Bucciarelli, 37, said.

I visited her classroom recently at LaSalle II Magnet School, a K-8 school