Charisma Cruz
Lead Teacher

Charisma@teach.fortressfw.org

Charisma is the lead teacher for the 3 year-old Dinos classroom at Fortress. During After School, she works with the pre-k and kindergarten children in Elephants. Previous to joining the Fortress team, she had the privilege of caring for newborns to school-age children. She graduated from Western Hills High School in 2010 and went on to attendTarrant County College to obtain her Associates of Arts in Teaching, graduating in 2017. She was accepted into Texas Tech as a transfer student and graduated in 2018 with her Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Studies (ESL). She has an authoritative style when it comes to discipline in the classroom, communicating with her students that she has high expectations regarding behaviors. She tends to be firm yet warm and open, and expresses her love and support through hugs and high-fives.

Charisma grew up attending the Boys & Girls Club because her single mother had to work a lot. She’s thankful that a lot of her experiences came from field trips she attended and friends she made while attending the club. This is why she feels safe places like Fortress make a huge impact on children’s lives. She became interested in Fortress after learning about it from a friend. After hearing about its purpose she knew this is where she needed to be!