Donna has a Bachelor of Science Degree in General Studies from USC, a Master of Arts in Education Administrationfrom CSULA, and a Master of Business Administration from USC. She has three teaching credentials - Multiple Subject K-12, Mathematics, and Business- in the state of California and continuously strives to improve her own skills and assess her impact on children.
Donna’s Midwest values keep her grounded in decent moral character. She loves children of all walks and ages, likes to be helpful, and often volunteers her skills whenever possible. Her current and prior community involvement activities include Hart District Advisory Council member, AYSO board member (treasurer, fundraiser, and sponsorship coordinator), soccer coach, referee, and referee council member, church lecturer, volunteer math tutor at the SCV Community Center, Girl Scout Troop leader, and volunteer at the Newhall senior center, among other things.
She is a stickler for timeliness, organization, and team work. These are the same traits she strives to instill in her students as she holds them accountable for their choices in the classroom.
Donna initially taught elementary school for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where she also served as a Mentor Teacher and a Title I Coordinator for a part of that time. She was also a Master Teacher for CSULA, giving guidance to student teachers in training. Additionally, Donna taught secondary mathematics for LAUSD before transitioning to the William S. Hart District where she has been serving as a substitute teacher for the last 6 years. She has worked at most of the schools in the Hart district; including several long-term substitute assignments, a reflection of her diligent work ethic and compatibility.
Donna is fluent in Spanish and has a good rapport with all members of the community and a way of making everyone feel welcome and comfortable when interacting with her. Her greatest love is teaching math; she feels math is the universal language that serves everyone, whether they realize it or not. This concept is what drives her in her pursuit to make revolutionary changes that affect how student learning is supported and enhanced.
Concurrently, Donna has her own business entities providing tutoring, accounting and tax services as well as insurance and financial services and sales. Her experience in both the education and business arenas enable her to have a bird’s eye view of what we want our students to ultimately be able to do with the skills they are taught. She realizes that students engage best when they have a purpose for learning new skills. They need to experience what those skills will do, not just read about them or practice them on paper. Please view examples of some of her hands on projects that received funding through Donors Choose www.donorschoose.org/societyclassroom.
