Welcome!

Welcome to 7th grade English at Blach! It's going to be an exciting year, and I'm thrilled to be a part of your junior high experience. I am an avid reader, mother to three boys, and former Blach Falcon. That's right: I attended school in Los Altos, and walked the very same hallways as you do now! This is my 14th year working at Blach and my 25th year teaching middle school students. There is nothing else I'd rather do than be a teacher.

This year, I'm most excited about building a community of writers and readers in our English class. Over the course of the year, you'll be selecting your strongest pieces of writing to publish in a 7th grade writing portfolio. I'm inspired to help you discover your 'voice' as a writer and publish your own beautiful words.

For reading, you will be exposed to engaging, new literature in a variety of genres. I look forward to hearing about your favorite reads and getting plenty of book recommendations from you. And for those of you who are less thrilled with the prospect of cozying up with a good book, consider the words of author J.K. Rowling: "If you don't like to read, you haven't found the right book." Let's find your "right book." I can't wait to support you!

Meet My Family!

I live in Sunnyvale with my husband and three sons. One is a 2nd grader at Oak, one is a freshman at MVHS, and the other is an 8th grader here at Blach.

Summer Memories This summer my family and I spent a lot of time enjoying the outdoors. We spent 4th of July in Capitola and Santa Cruz, went camping with friends near Placerville, and spent a magical week in Bass Lake, boating, tubing, kayaking, and swimming. I also went on a backpacking-canoeing trip in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with my oldest son.

Go Giants! I married into being a Giants fan and my family loves to go to the games and cheer on our favorite team. Plus, ballpark food is the best!

Meet Mrs. Datta! This year, I have pleasure of welcoming Mrs. Datta, resident teacher, into my classroom.

Hello!

I'm thrilled to be in the classroom with you this year, learning from Mrs. Hickman - and from all of you!

I'm transitioning from a career in technology, where I spent 19 years at Google working across a wide range of functions and products. I left Google four years ago with the goal of spending more time with my family, and figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.

I've always dreamed of being a teacher. (Just ask my siblings- I constantly made them play school, and I always got to be the teacher!)

I'm also an avid reader and can't wait to share my love of books and stories with you.

So here I am, stepping into my next adventure- excited to learn and grow alongside each of you!

Meet My Family!

I was born in Germany and moved to the U.S. when I was five. I grew up in Virginia and later moved to San Francisco after graduating from the University of Virginia. I lived in both Singapore and Paris before settling in Los Altos with my husband, Sanjay, and our three kids — Nila, Lucas, and Julian — who all attend Springer Elementary in 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade.

We have two family pets- our cat, Mia and our puppy, Bailey.

Summer Memories This summer we attended two weddings- my sister's in Portugal (I am one of five siblings!) and my cousin's in France. In between, we spent three weeks in the south of France with family and friends. , and then spent a few days in Paris before heading home.

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