I have been working in education for over 10 years in a variety of capacities. I started my career as a paraeducator working in the same school district I attended when I was young. I also worked in arts education at a non-profit that provided professional development for public school educators and administrators to bring arts instruction into the classroom with low resources.
I went to Cal State Dominguez Hills and UCLA to get my Bachelor’s in Liberal Studies, teaching credential, BCLAD certification and Masters in Education. I am now a fifth-grade Spanish Immersion teacher and the mentor of a teacher candidate from USF. At my site, I serve on the Union Building Committee, the School Site Council and I am the Arts Coordinator, organizing the multiple art opportunities that we make available to our students above and beyond what the district provides. I am also part of Mentoring for Success, and volunteer as a 1-1 mentor for young people at my school site.
Beyond the roles I have at school, I serve on the English Language Learners Committee for the California Federation of Teachers, appointed by the union president. I am also the only teacher serving on the Public Education Enrichment Fund Community Advisory Committee appointed by Board of Education Commissioner Mark Sanchez. I am a core member of Teachers 4 Social Justice and I volunteer with the Academic Peer Education Project in San Quentin State Prison, where I have an up-close view of the school to prison pipeline and seek to disrupt it by bringing comprehensive literacy instruction to the population there.
I have a unique perspective that allows me to bring my experiences, and the experiences of those we are serving, to the board. Being the only candidate who currently works for the school district, I am seeking to serve as a Board of Education commissioner because I deeply understand how important our contribution to the work in schools is. I would also be the first and only Spanish bilingual public school teacher on the Board of Education. Teachers see the issues in the classroom for students and families in a granular and current way that is often missing from policy discussions. We are workers as well as passionate advocates for children. I remember vividly my own experiences as a bilingual immigrant student from a struggling working-class family. My passion for education and inclusion comes from these experiences.
