About Me

In second grade I had a teacher who I simply adored. She wore a headband behind, what we would call a modern day bump-it, and so did I because I wanted to be just like her.  Neighborhood kids and my younger sister were my students and they learned lessons, did homework, and followed rules. One Saturday morning, at the beginning of summer before my third grade year, there was a knock on the door. My mom had to pick up my jaw as I stood in awe at Ms. Hooker at my door. She came in with an armful of old curriculum books so that I could properly prepare lessons for my students. From that day, I knew I always wanted to be a teacher.

I had my first job in education with Americorps as an after school mentor. I was responsible for co-teaching an after school class of 30 kids, which included homework help, Kidzlit (a reading program), and enrichment. Americorps trained us pretty well but most of what I learned, was from observing classroom teachers, and making a lot of my own mistakes.

I received my teaching credential in 2009, when teachers were getting pink slipped and school districts had hiring freezes. I continued to work in after school programing and worked my way up to a site director and lead director, eventually overseeing five after school sites. But, I still wasn’t a teacher. I applied for teaching positions across the country. After over 500 applications sent, I finally got a bite for a teaching position in LA at a charter school.

A charter school? Why not? I was honestly desperate. I did a sample teach, had an interview and was hired as a 7^th grade ELA and History teacher. I had the honor of teaching what will go down in the books as the best class ever, with a mentor that helped me navigate through good lesson planning, building culture, and sweating the small things. I learned what charter schools are really about: offering communities in need, a choice for their children’s education. After my first year of teaching, I was awarded Teacher of the Year. In my second year, I piloted a blended learning model and learned what the word differentiation really means. My students grew exponentially in reading. 

I now teach 5th grade ELA for KIPP in East LA. In our first year, my fifth grade students had the most growth in reading on MAP across the entire KIPP network. Blended learning has ignited my desire to created personalized learning plans for each one of my students, creating opportunities to meet kids at their level for optimal growth.

Schools are more segregated than they have ever been before. Your educational destiny is determined by your zip code. I want to do my part to change the trajectory of students who don’t have access to a quality education.