Get to Know the Real Teacher Behind Ms. Appleberry From 'CoComelon Classroom'
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Juliana Urtubey was the 2021 National Teacher of the Year. Now she's the head of 'CoComelon Classroom'.
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Fact checked by Sarah ScottFact checked by Sarah ScottJuliana Urtubey is the breakout star of the new live-action CoComelon spin-off, CoComelon Classroom, on YouTube. But Urtubey, a first-generation American born in Colombia, doesn’t just play Ms. Appleberry, a preschool teacher, on TV. She put down roots as a teacher more than a decade ago, beginning her career as a bilingual general education teacher.Who knew then that she would be at the head of a very different classroom in the future? Let's introduce you to the real-life teacher behind Ms. Appleberry.Meet the Real-Life Ms. AppleberryIt was in that first job that Urtubey met a fifth-grader who couldn’t read. “But he was brilliant,” Urtubey recalls. “It didn’t make sense to me.”It planted the seed in her head to become a bilingual special education teacher, which she did. And she didn’t stop growing–literally. At one of her last jobs in Las Vegas, she could tell the toll the lack of safety and beautification was taking on her students. So they all rolled up their sleeves and created a tiny garden bed. It grew to 20,000 square feet.“It was amazing because the students, their families, the neighborhood, and the community came together to build this garden,” Urtubey says. “Through these partnerships, relationships were formed with the students—the majority of them first-generation from Central America, Mexico, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Language barriers didn’t stop us from doing what we knew our students needed to thrive...for me, as a special education teacher, it was the best way that I could provide an inclusive space for my students. Everybody has a role in a garden, and everybody's role matters.”Advocating For Her StudentsUrtubey’s classroom has grown by several thousand viewers due to her new role on CoComelon Classroom. But before she became Ms. Appleberry, Urtubey was the 2021 National Teacher of the Year, allowing her to shine a spotlight on a platform that education should be “joyful” and “just.”“I frequently am one of the only Latina teachers who have had a similar experience with my students being born in a different country and helping their parents navigate a new system,” Urtubey says. “Advocacy has always been folded into my teaching, especially as a special ed teacher. You have to advocate a lot for your students and their right to participate in general education.”
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For Urtubey, advocacy also means reframing. For instance, she’s proud to have coined the term “linguistically gifted” to describe students whose first language is something other than English—students like her.“Our students have a lot of skill sets, so we reframed it as being linguistically gifted,” Urtubey says. “How can we invite those gifts to come in?”Urtubey has received some high-profile invites pre-CoComelon. In 2022, President Joe Biden appointed her to the President's Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. The appointment has a strict code of ethics not to say anything representing the President, but Urtubey says it’s a role “beyond her wildest dreams.”“It shows me that elevating teachers is such an important call to action right now,” she says.Outside of Washington, D.C., Urtubey also accepted an invitation from YouTube to give a keynote speech to creators about how she uses the platform in the classroom.“I talked about the need for joy, curiosity, connection, and participatory viewing,” Urtubey says. “It’s not just, ‘ I'm going to watch and disconnect, but I'm going to watch and connect with the community, and I'm going to learn. I'm going to feel this joy—creating that connection that a teacher can create with students.”Growing Her Inclusive 'Classroom'The people at Moonbug Entertainment were curious, too—about having Urtubey be a part of their new live-action series. When Urtubey took the call, she expected them to ask her to serve as a content reviewer. While being a part of a hit franchise may sound like a dream come true, Urtubey adored teaching. So, it took some convincing. Spoiler alert: It was effective.“I was quite excited because parts of my creativity were just coming alive when we were planning some of the initial ideas for the show,” Urtubey says. “I felt like a teacher in our planning sessions, and I felt connected to the viewer...it's like my classroom got a lot bigger.”
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Urtubey knows her story and sheer presence on a popular show is also about something bigger.“On a representative level, the idea that a Latina can be a child's first teacher is beautiful to me,” Urtubey says. ”We represent a very small portion of teachers across this country. For kids to understand that somebody like me is a teacher is exciting—particularly for other kids who look like me. But I think it’s exciting for everybody.”Urtubey is also excited to use her teaching skills and platform to promote inclusivity and curiosity on a larger stage.“I’m using inclusive practices that I've learned as a teacher that are effective with students for their learning and development of self-esteem, skills, and executive function,” Urtubey says. “Questioning and social-emotional wellness have been transmitted into, and that's been informed by hundreds and hundreds of kids that I've been lucky enough to teach.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by CoComelon (@cocomelon_official)
Acting, While Always TeachingUrtubey may not be an actress by trade. However, her roots in teaching give her the ability to connect with the audience, and that shines through with each episode. “There are numerous moments where Ms. Appleberry looks directly at the camera and speaks with the home viewer, inviting them to join her,” says Natascha Crandall, PhD, a psychologist and educator who provides insights and input for CoComelon Classroom. “While the show has an educational backbone and so many strong learning moments, it feels just like playtime.”It’s playtime for Urtubey, too. She’s embraced the challenge of interacting with some rather special students—the animated ones, like the beloved JJ.“Working with the animated characters required me to be playful because the way they do it is movie magic,” Urtubey says. “It’s required a lot of imagination on my part and a lot of interaction with the people playing [and] holding the space for JJ. That brought me a true sense of authenticity. When you see me looking at JJ and laughing, I'm genuinely interested in JJ as a child. It’s so easy for me to think of any student of mine and superimpose how that student would respond and be engaged in that play. That was the coolest part.”Actual humans, including award-winning actress and mother Keke Palmer, also join her on the show.“I remember Akeelah and the Bee and how significant that movie was in terms of representation,” Urtubey says. “Then, to find out her son, Leo, loves CoComelon and that she would come and help is sing Rocket Ship Song was exciting.”
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If the powers that be are listening, Urtubey would love to have fellow Colombian Karol G on at some point. But while Urtubey is too humble to admit it, she’s become a star in her own right. Teachers email her with videos and notes about how they’re using the new series in their classrooms, making it clear she’s become a household name (though the pronunciation may need a little work, but it’s proof mistakes can be adorable). “I got this email from a teacher that made me melt,” Urtubey says. “In the video, the child is calling me ‘Ms. Flappleberry.’ Teachers are sending me questions. They're participating. I think that it's a beautiful thing that I was able to give teachers one more resource.”It’s like she never left the classroom after all. New episodes of CoComelon Classroom debut Thursdays on the CoComelon Classroom YouTube Channel. For more Parents news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Read the original article on Parents.
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