Welcome, Fatima Benitez!

Fatima Benitez
Kindergarten Paraprofessional

Please tell us about yourself.
My mother and I migrated from Peru in 1991, since then we have only lived in a North Bergen making this our 30th year living in the US. After high school I attended Ramapo College for Nursing but due to some life circumstances, I ended up graduating from Rutgers Newark with a Biology degree in 2010. I absolutely love to travel and thanks to the flexibility of my husband’s job, these past 7 years that I’ve been a stay at home mom. After the birth of my firstborn, we have visited many states, explored many cities and its attractions. We are grateful that God made it possible for me to stay home for this long to be with my girls and watch them grow. The two major outdoor sports we have gotten into throughout this pandemic has been skiing and kayaking. It has brought us together as a family.

How did God bring you to work at EC?
God has been instrumental throughout the whole process of enrolling our girls and applying to this job. During our family’s entrance interview, Principal Bottge suggested I should look into working at EC. Before this phone call, my husband and I were utterly torn between going to Tennessee as planned or stay and make sure our girls did not miss any of events planned prior to their start date this academic year. Once I heard her offer, I immediately knew what God ultimately wanted us to do, so we cancelled our trip. I have been a fan of EC since I first learned of it back when my oldest was in preschool. I am beyond grateful that God heard my prayer to finally get my girls enrolled. Now I am eager to put my past experience as a substitute teacher in local public school districts to use.

Why Eastern Christian School?
Throughout the years, my husband and I have done research on the various Christian schools in the area and none have topped my list as EC has. We fell in love with the campus. The school’s core values met ours. The quality education that it provides students from a biblical standpoint was key to us when we chose it. I have a very close friend that graduated from here a few years back and I can see it in the way she lives her life that the education has molded her to become God’s hands and feet while working as a Christian counselor. I am very excited for this upcoming academic year!