Flower of Sacrifice

Being able to observe someone is a gift; it lets you see characteristics the surface can’t portray and the lips can’t put into words. People say our ribs are cages because our hearts are monsters, but they also say nothing is more beautiful than the goodness of someone’s heart.
Observations are a gift because it allows you to see the difference between the two. Suddenly, subtle actions that seem meaningless now carry the weight of a thousand burdens. Witnessing and being a part of these experiences turns observations into realizations.
One realization many Cypress Springs students have had is that beneath the surface of a seemingly normal teacher, lies a selfless heart that’s determined to bring out the best in each and every single one of his students through support, dedication, and care. Computer Science teacher Jose Chapela’s ribs aren’t a cage, but rather leaves blossoming from a flower of goodwill.
Since 2022, his first year of teaching, Mr. Chapela’s classes have grown from 89 students to 170. In addition to juggling the Computer Science curriculum as the only CS teacher, he also takes care of Academic UIL preparations, competitions, and budgets as the director, spending more than 50+ hours of work each week with little rest.
With a hefty schedule, his life has flipped around completely, but not once does he complain. Mr. Chapela is willing to do whatever it takes to be a stable foundation for his students, providing them with the room to grow and flourish to reach their full potential.
“My sleep schedule is altered, my eating habits have changed, and I don’t really have the energy to go hang out with friends anymore,” said Chapela. “With all this said, the days I do have energy, I tell them how blessed I am. There’s nowhere I would rather be than teaching my students.”
On a regular teaching day, Mr. Chapela’s classroom is lively and thriving. Laughter reverberates, bouncing off the walls. The environment is a warm one that encourages sociality.
On special occasions, Mr. Chapela turns on the promethean board and livestreams baseball games. It doesn’t take long before he’s sitting with a crowded group of his students, sharing similar reactions when the team they’re rooting for scores a point.
Observations like these produced realizations –much like the ones senior Aiden Salinas had– that Mr. Chapela is one to deeply care for his students, making the effort to interact with them and allowing them to enjoy being children without imposing strict responsibilities and regulations.
“I feel like most teachers try to instill ‘fear’ into their students in order for them to respect them,” said Salinas. “However, Chapela sacrificed this which resulted in a deeper bond with his students.”
Adding in his insight, senior Telmuun Baasansuren’s personal experiences with Chapela illustrates how much teachers can impact their students, no matter how small the action. According to Baasansuren, Mr. Chapela’s kindness envelopes the classroom, making it feel like a “second home.”
“Mr. Chapela has always managed to help me whenever I’m struggling with anything, no matter what the topic is, whether it be school or life lessons,” said Baasansuren. “He gives out so much without expecting anything in return.”
Mr. Chapela himself admits that he wants to be able to “develop a sense of trust with the students so they can make mistakes and not feel like it’s the end of the world.” He wants to be able to provide his students with at least an hour of comfort in his classroom because he knows that everyone has a tough schedule to handle. In Mr. Chapela’s view, it’s the bare minimum of what he could do for the kids.
Thus, despite the number of sleeping and slacking students in his class, not once does Mr. Chapela reprimand them. When he assigns an assignment, he gives several days to allow for its completion, never pressuring his students to turn it in immediately, in order to alleviate stress.
Looking back, senior Saadika Salauddin recognizes Mr. Chapela’s empathy as the trait she’s most grateful for. When she took CS1 her sophomore year, she was balancing work in fast food, Varsity Wrestling, and various clubs and AP classes.
“Mr. Chapela never antagonized me or punished me for falling asleep in his class,” she said. “He was the only teacher to do that for me, and to this day, I credit him as a part of how I made it through that year.”
Salauddin applauds Mr. Chapela for his patience, claiming it’s what makes him an incredible mentor. She hopes that everyone will be able to meet a teacher like Mr. Chapela at least once in their lives; a teacher who’s willing to support and push students forward no matter what.
As time went on, the message spread and Mr. Chapela’s classes have become famous for his easy going curriculum and ability to teach efficiently. Although his stress has increased along with the number of incoming students, Mr. Chapela couldn’t be happier; he’s ecstatic to have the ability and opportunity to guide and teach.
“I want to produce students who are better than me,” he said. “I think that’s the goal of any teacher, to enable the next generation to be better than the previous. I don’t want to cap their potential with an artificial level of reaching my skill.”
Little does he know, despite his lack of experience in the teaching field, many of his students are already crediting him as one of the greatest teachers they’ve ever met, even students who haven’t had him before.
Junior Samuel Ikechukwu, an ARC student at Cypress Springs previously struggled with Computer Science during his sophomore year because of the way his ARC teacher taught. After much debate, he finally went to Mr. Chapela one day after school, cautious at first, but left feeling relieved.
“Mr. Chapela has been someone who, without hesitation, helped me when I doubted everything,” said Ikechukwu. “He’s allowed me to know that I don’t hate computer science, but rather my ARC teacher who was the complete opposite of him.”
In addition to efficient teaching, Mr. Chapela is held in high regard for his ability to support student mentality. People say not to put all your eggs in one basket, but Mr. Chapela would take that risk any day if it’s for his students.
Recalling the past, junior Aerell McKnight reveals that Mr. Chapela has spent close to a hundred dollars out of his own pocket to support McKnight’s Computer Science efforts, never once doubting whether it would be worth it in the end or not. But that’s only a fraction of the reason why McKnight respects his teacher.
“Chapela is the person who enabled me to compete in competitions in the first place,” said McKnight. “He boosted my confidence enough to compete beyond comp sci and expand my growth for potential.”
Surprisingly, Mr. Chapela’s support doesn’t stop there. If asked, this teacher is willing to go above and beyond for any of his students, as testified by senior Carlos Rivera.
“Chapela is one of those teachers, to me, that cares deeply about his students through the dedication of his time and support,” said Rivera. “He goes out of his way to go to student games, contests, and other events as he’s done for me with my band events in the past.”
Broadening the topic, sacrifices of Chapela’s time doesn’t always mean attending student events. Most of the time, the most impactful time he sacrifices almost goes unnoticed every single day. Luckily, Cy Springs graduate Payton Phuong was able to capture an observation and turn it into an amazing inspiration.
“I remember a time when after school practice was over, it was 8PM, and I just saw Mr. Chapela leaving his classroom,” said Phuong. “It was crazy hearing that he spent five more extra hours in school after the bell, just to grade and make practice tests for UIL.”
During this time in Mr. Chapela’s teaching career, he lived about an hour away from the school so being able to see him stay late just for his students’ success impacted Phuong greatly. The realizations and experiences of all of Mr. Chapela’s students are proof that this teacher’s heart is a blooming flower of goodwill. But diving deeper, flowers don’t just bloom out of nowhere, so where did this passion for care come from?
The seed in Mr. Chapela’s heart had always been there, slowly sprouting, but the sprouting accelerated when he met his middle school teacher, Benjamin Younger and his Scouts coworker, John Fortier. These two key influential figures helped water the flower in Mr. Chapela’s heart, allowing him to blossom into the person he is today.
Growing up, Jose Chapela attended a rough, low-budget school where Mr. Younger became his refuge of comfort. For Chapela, he views Mr. Younger as many of his students view him. When Mr. Chapela got the job as a Cy Springs teacher, he texted Mr. Younger who told him he “had the power to make someone’s crappy day into a great one instead,” making Mr. Chapela realize that it was his duty to bring out his best in the classroom no matter what, just for the sake of the students.
Under the wing of Mr. Fortier –the one who made the final push for Chapela to apply as a teacher– Mr. Chapela learned to understand the lengths of sacrifice he was willing to push for those around him. Chapela recalls Fortier as someone who made sure the youths in Scouts weren’t harshly rebuked by adults through running direct interference.
Following in Fortier’s path, Chapela took many verbal jabs, punishments, and blames for Scouts youths in order to ensure the program was fun for them. He drew the line between angry adults and young children time after time again, setting up a middle ground despite the consequences. The sacrifice of his own pride and his heightened moral awareness contributes a hefty amount of what makes up the petals of teaching in Chapela’s flower today.
Selfishness and personal motivation is a natural part of our human nature. As if it’s coded into us, humans always feel the need to do what they need to thrive, even if it’s at the expense of someone else. That said, it’s very rare to find someone who focuses on serving others at the expense of their own personal being; it’s like finding an endangered species.
Mr. Chapela could have ignored the conflicts in Scouts, turned a blind eye to his overwhelmed students, trashed his responsibilities and commitments to go home early, and quit putting in the effort of making his classroom friendly. But no. He sacrifices day after day, minute after minute, setting aside his human nature just to nurture other flowers.
Whether his sacrifices lie in spending money out of his own pockets for his students, sacrificing his sleep hours, his time, his pride, etc etc. there’s no doubt that all these observations don’t go unnoticed. Rewards might not come immediately for hard workers, but then again, Mr. Chapela was never looking for one in the first place.
Perhaps that in itself is the best part of a humble heart. In a world where many flowers bloom for attention, showing off their pretty petals with the wind, it always feels like a reward when you find that one special flower hiding behind the thickets of the underbrush. When you see it bloom, it feels like a treasure to behold. It’s a shade unlike any other, sheltering the blooming seeds of many other young flowers.