About Me

My name is Cecilia Reyes-Murillo, or as most of my friends and family members know me, Ceci.  I was born in Sinaloa, Mexico and raised in Mexicali, Baja California near the Calexico-Mexicali border until the age of fourteen.  I attended grammar school and part of junior high (-until eight grade) until my parents decided to bring my siblings and I to the United States in 1987.

My career in education began right after high school.  I was hired as a paraprofessional to work in general education classes at Madera High School at the same time that I attended college.  I completed my general education from Madera Center and Fresno City College and transferred to California State University of Fresno, CSUF.  I graduated from CSUF with a dual major in Mass Communications and Journalism and Chicano Studies.  In addition to this, I had the privilege to work as an intern and a freelance reporter for Radio Bilingue where I learned from two of the best journalists in the nation: Samuel Orozco and Maria Erana.  During this time, I was able to become familiar with the daily struggles of our growing Latino community and their concerns about immigration, politics, education and health. 

While it may sound like a cliché, I had a genuine desire to give a “voice to the voiceless” since I was in elementary school.  I dreamed of attending a school to become a journalist but I also fell in love with education.  One of my school mentors once told me “Cecilia, journalism and teaching have so much in common; one teaches to a major scale and the other one to a small one.”  It made so much sense to me, as both of us shared a similar background in journalism.  In 2005, I enrolled at National University and obtained two multiple subjects credentials in Special Education.  I found my true calling in teaching and have been a teacher for sixteen years. 

I am now a professional educator, co-lab teacher, wife and a proud mother of three children: my oldest son just graduated from Santa Clara University with a Juris Doctorate in Law; a daughter, who will be graduating in Spring of 2022 from UC Merced and attending medical school; and my youngest, is currently a freshman at Matilda Torres High School.  I considered myself blessed in all aspects of life.  I have a passion for learning, especially in my favorite subjects History and Science.  I look forward to continue my career in education as a teacher but most important as an instrument of service to my students while enjoying my family, and my two hobbies, interior decorating, and singing mariachi music.