He is a big guy, funny and well known at Miami Senior High. A math teacher and chess coach, he is also the JV boys basketball coach.
Julio Aguilar grew up in Granada, Nicaragua. After moving to South Florida, the big guy attended Miami Jackson Senior High where he enjoyed playing basketball during lunch or after school with his friends, even though he did not play in an organized basketball league.
During the summer of his junior year, he got an opportunity to work for a local bank. After graduating high school in 1993, he went to Florida International University (F.I.U.). During college, he worked three separate jobs including administrative roles at Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Open World Trading and still managed to graduate with the Class of 1998.
Mr. Aguilar has pursued three separate interests since graduating college. The first of these was coaching basketball which he started during the 2001-2002 school year.
His second interest is teaching, which he started at Miami Senior High in 2005. He currently teaches algebra, and feels like the school is his home away from home. What he enjoys the most about teaching and coaching is “watching his students grow into role models for the next generation.”
On the down side, he feels challenged by the lack of loyalty that some students show towards teachers.
Mr. Aguilar also enjoys coaching and teaching chess, which he started playing when he was young. His competitive nature led him to stick with it after someone told him he wasn’t smart enough to play. He recommends it to students because it helps clear your mind and helps you think of different situations, such as how to foresee potential outcomes after three to five moves.
Playing competitive chess requires time, dedication and sometimes additional motivation, but Mr. Aguilar believes that all students are smart enough to play. He proved this when his Miami High chess team won a state tournament in 2008 and a national championship in 2012.
Mr. Aguilar’s personal life is highlighted by his wife and two children. He describes his daughter Elizabeth as intelligent and self-motivated. He describes his son Julio as “fierce like a hurricane.” He and his family enjoy spending time together and taking road trips.