Romeo K. Garcia ’23 Receives Celina Karp Biniaz Model of Resilience Award
Romeo K. Garcia, class of 2023 has received the Celina Karp Biniaz Model of Resilience Award from Grinnell College. The Award was established to honor Celina’s courageously hopeful life and legacy.
Celina Karp Biniaz, class of 1952, endowed the award to support a graduating senior with two key intentions: 1) To aid students like her who had to overcome obstacles to obtain their education; and 2) To recognize and support such students who wish to pursue careers teaching young people OR working for organizations or governmental entities whose core mission focuses on the education and welfare of young people.
Garcia, an English major with a Latin American Studies concentration, is pursuing a career as a middle school/high school English teacher.
“With this award, I feel more confident and capable to begin my professional career as an English teacher in Washington, D.C.,” said Garcia. “I am honored to carry on Celina’s incredible legacy of service and dedication as an educator, and I am excited to soon pay forward the opportunities and benefits I received from my education to future generations through my work as a teacher.”
Garcia has participated in transformative experiences to support his teaching goals. This past year he was a Teach for America Ignite Fellow remotely tutoring and mentoring students at a variety of age levels. In summer 2022, Garcia was an AmeriCorps Teaching Fellow with Breakthrough Central Texas where he planned and taught eight writing classes per week.
As a dean’s list recipient, Garcia has been steadfast in his academic studies embracing curriculum in English, Education, Spanish, Latin American Studies, Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, and more. He has contributed to the campus community as the department liaison and outreach coordinator for the Latin American Studies Student Educational Policy Committee, co-leader for Trans at Grinnell, writing mentor through the Writing, Reading, and Speaking Center, mentor for the Peer Connections Pre-Orientation Program, and coordinator for both Spanish House and the Stonewall Resource Center. Within all of his roles, Garcia listens to the concerns and needs of his peers and responds with support, advocacy, advice, and guidance.
Garcia leads with his commitment to give back to those who have supported him in his educational journey and to increase educational equity in under-resourced communities. With his own determination to attend college, Garcia discovered the Upward Bound, federal TRIO program, and the QuestBridge Scholarship program as a means to pursue his dreams. Now he is poised to advance the education and welfare of the next generation of young people.
He has been selected as a Capital Teaching Resident with KIPP DC schools in Washington D.C. In July 2023, Garcia will begin his work as an English Language Arts Resident at Honor Academy where he will serve as a classroom support under a mentor teacher and take on more classroom responsibilities as the year goes on. He will begin his Master of Arts in Teaching coursework with Relay Graduate School of Education alongside his classroom role.
Then in his second year, he will begin teaching at Honor Academy or another KIPP DC school and complete his Masters’ degree. As a teaching resident he will continue for one more year at a KIPP DC school. “I aspire to create a classroom rooted in culturally-sustaining, whole-child inclusive, and equitable teaching practices, as well as centering community relationships in my work,” shared Garcia.
Donor Story
Celina Karp Biniaz was born in Poland in 1931. Her life and education were drastically impacted by World War II. Surviving Plaszow and Auschwitz, she was the youngest child to work in Oskar Schindler’s factory in Czechoslovakia. Following the war, Celina’s family joined relatives in the United States where she graduated from North High School, Des Moines, IA, and then attended Grinnell College majoring in philosophy.
Karp Biniaz earned her master’s degree in Education at Columbia University to hold a 27-year career as a teacher. She was a pioneer in the special education field, helping to establish a program of individualized instruction for elementary school students with learning difficulties. She credits the film Schindler’s List, which was released in 1993, with enabling her to find her voice and share her personal experiences of the Holocaust. Celina has traveled the globe, appealing for a rejection of hate, sharing her incredible life experiences and her fervent hope for humanity.
This is the second recipient of the Celina Karp Biniaz Model of Resilience Award at Grinnell College. The Award is advised and administered through Global Fellowships and Awards in the Center for Careers, Life, and Service.