Analyn de Vera Palugod is an English as a second language (ESL) teacher at Adacao Elementary School located in Mangilao, Guam. She has been a teacher at the Guam Department of Education for the past 12 years, and has spent the past four years teaching at the Home of the Hilitais. She currently serves as the school's ESL Coordinator. Palugod teaches a combination of third- through fifth-grade students with varying English proficiencies. Prior to teaching ESL, she taught a variety of elementary grade levels as a regular classroom teacher. She is an advocate for cultural education and strives to help students take pride in their cultural diversity, unique backgrounds, and ways of knowing and learning. No matter what grade level she may be in, one thing remains the same: her passion for discovering the potential in each and every student. Palugod graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education from the University of Guam in 2006. She also earned a master of arts in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) from the University of Southern California in 2014. She was named the Guam Teacher of the Year in 2019.