This study examined how current kindergarten teachers promote learning and early success throughout a child's educational trajectory, including middle and high school. Narrative inquiry identified concepts and methods of promoting social emotional development and learning for the duration of a student's schooling. The research gave voice to Latina kindergarten teachers in the California Central Valley through an authentic, asset-based format. Participants described their experience with whole child instruction and how they leveraged their cultural assets to support their students. Yosso's (2005) cultural capital wealth and asset-based framework was used for this study in order to highlight the capital wealth Latina participants inherently carried into the teaching profession to leverage success for themselves and their students. This study emphasized three of Yosso's six cultural capitals: familial, resistance, and aspirational. This narrative inquiry research was framed using the following research question: In what ways do the pre-professional experiences of Latina teacher's leverage a nurturing school experience for their Kindergarten students? This study's findings indicate that the pre-professional experiences of Latina participants were instrumental in their decision to become a teacher and aided in developing a strong sense of self awareness. Findings also demonstrated that the pre-professional experiences of Latinas served as insight to the whole child needs of their students. In the absence of formal affective learning objectives, participants used these acquired understandings as a form of intuitive foresight to provide a nurturing learning environment for students. Participants' pre-professional cultural experiences influenced their professional relations, including respect for families and different cultures and attention to social justice, all of which influenced teacher pedagogy and were used to support whole child learning. Finally, the pre-professional experiences of Latina kindergarten teachers allowed them to identify the familial, educational, and professional shifts necessary to create educational capital for themselves and their loved ones. Outcomes revealed participants were motivated to invest their educational capital into students to promote their academic success. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]