Veronica Cruz has always wanted to change the lives of children. Her idyllic childhood in the port city of Barranquilla, on Colombia's Caribbean coast, left her profoundly grateful — and profoundly aware that not all kids are so lucky.

She worked for a time as a small-town family doctor in Colombia, "doing house calls at 1 in the morning." As medicine became less personalized, she shifted to hospital administration. And then, in 2000, after losing her mother to violence in Colombia, Cruz and her family made a drastic change and moved to St. Louis.

Cruz's sister had lived in St. Louis for 25 years. But even so, the transition was difficult. Cruz's English was limited, and her husband, Tulio, spoke none. They relied on their son while they learned English on the job and at free classes.

Cruz was soon immersed in a network of immigrants, sharing tips on daily life and job opportunities. Through a string of positions — certified medical technician, school cook, medical interpreter, bilingual customer service — she improved her English and learned American customs. Then she chanced upon a job in the field she had always wanted: teaching.

A new charter school, St. Louis Language Immersion Schools, was looking for staff members who were fluent in Spanish and French. She took a job as an assistant classroom teacher. "It was less money," she said, "but I wasn't after a job. I was after a career." And, she added, "I was delighted because I could talk in Spanish all the time!"

Now, 2 1/2 years later, she teaches children in kindergarten through third grade about making healthy choices. Her classes focus on the impact of the daily decisions people make, from caring for their skin to eating sweets in moderation. Even topics like respecting others and conserving paper come up in class.

"I always have had the need to teach," Cruz said. "As a physician, you're a teacher anyway. And now I can do it in a field I love: health."

Cruz is happy to be an American citizen, and she often tells her students how lucky they are to be living here. But teaching in an urban school also puts her in contact with students whose childhoods are at the opposite end of the spectrum from hers. "I had such a nice, wonderful childhood, so it's very hard to see children who don't have the same," Cruz said.

Some of her favorite memories involve food, especially the soups her family ate nearly every day for lunch. And soup was the first dish Cruz added to her own cooking repertoire, starting at age 10.

Ajiaco Bogotano, one of Colombia's most traditional dishes, celebrates the potato — which originated in the Andes — and is accented by guascas, a common herb in Latin American cooking.