What is your teaching experience?

My teaching experience began when I first moved to the U.S. in 1994 and worked in a full-inclusion preschool for 3 years. My interest in education broadened when I worked at The Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose for 3 years. While working there, I attended San Jose State University, which is where I received a Bachelor's Degree in Child Development. Following that, I earned my California Multi-Subject Teaching Credential in 2001. 

I worked in the Cupertino Union School District and taught for 14 years at the same school. The school community felt like a family, and I enjoyed my years there, teaching 2nd through 5th grade. I met my husband there, too! He still teaches 6th grade in Cupertino.

While working in Cupertino, I was introduced to Project Cornerstone, which inspired me to achieve a certificate in Character Education through the University of San Diego.

​After having my second child, I stepped away from the classroom to be with my daughters. I became a Girl Scout troop leader and a "room mom" for my eldest daughter, Genevieve.  I also worked at a parent co-op preschool with my youngest daughter, Adelyn.  (My girls are now 14 years old and 18 years old!) During that time, I tutored Kindergarten through 8th-grade students in their homes. 

In 2017, I returned to teaching and joined the fabulous Alta Vista community as a first-grade teacher, and I feel continually blessed to be here at AV.  I love working with such a dynamic staff. Our district offers rich professional development and solid leadership. As a lifelong learner, I continue to find new ways to connect with my students and learn new strategies to tailor my curriculum to the needs of my class. 

Being a working mom has helped me understand the home-school life balance. It has helped me shape my teaching philosophy to focus on the whole child instead of just their academic skills. Raising happy, healthy, well-balanced, critically thinking humans is the most important job our communities and families have been tasked to do.  I believe we are interconnected in this role of caring for and building up our future citizens.