We are thrilled to welcome these deeply-rooted Oakland educators to the Bay Area STEM Educators' Exchange!
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Paula Mitchell is passionate about the promise of education as a liberatory tool and innovative pedagogy to support thriving students and teachers. Recognizing the importance of working with the hands, mind, and body to increase engagement and understanding, Paula has incorporated experiential learning practices from the beginning of her 25+ year career in education.
Intensely interested in learning and developing best practices, after 20 years in the elementary classroom, Paula transitioned to becoming a teacher leader at her site where she designed her school's very first maker education/ project-based learning program and its makerspace.
Throughout her career, Paula has kept steady in her belief in the power of collaboration, creativity, and joy to cultivate empowering learning spaces for both teachers and students. Paula finds personal joy in dancing, laughing, and hugging giant Redwoods.
Student Recruitment Specialist / Youth Coach
Education for Change
As a community leader for the past decade in Oakland, California, Areli has been recognized for their work with youth through education and athletic coaching. They now assist families in navigating educational systems that often can be overwhelming and inequitable.
Using their experience with marketing and intimate knowledge of community needs, Areli helps leaders identify how their school systems can welcome students and families more fully into the fabric of their educational environment. Their skillset of analyzing processes with an equitable-access lens allows them to advise leaders on how best to create opportunities for authentic family engagement.
Dean of Students / Co-Founder / Founder
Latitude High / Camino Program / Noxhegalactica Podcast
Christian Martinez, also known as Galactico, is an educator & poeta. Born in Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico, he and his family migrated to Oakland, California in 1999 to pursue a better future. Growing up in East Oakland deeply influenced his desire to elevate in the community. Christian witnessed and experienced the social and educational inequities first hand and wanted to contribute to leveling the playing field for communities of color.
In the past year, Christian Martinez and Areli Porras-Pozos have presented at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education's Alumni of Color Conference, South By Southwest (SXSW) EDU Conference, and the Deeper Learning Conference.
We encourage educators of all backgrounds, contexts, subject areas, and grade levels to attend.
Workshop content will be focused on high school STEM courses, but all aspects of the conference may be applicable to elementary, middle, college, or afterschool programs.
Have questions, comments, or concerns? Contact Lex Schoenberg (she/they) at lex.schoenberg@latitudehigh.org