I was born, raised and still reside in the city of Santa Ana.  I attended Glenn Martin Elementary, Lowell Elementary, Willard Intermediate, Saddleback HS and graduated from Santa Ana High School.  I started a family right out of high school and decided with a three year old and a 5 year old to start college.  My children (3) are all raised and attended Santa Ana schools as well. I attended Santa Ana College and then transferred to California State University, Fullerton where I obtained my B.S. degree and my credential in Mathematics.  I decided teaching was my calling when I began taking math courses at Santa Ana College.  I quickly began tutoring while in school through the Boys and Girls Club of Santa, and at my daughter’s elementary school.  Soon after, while still at SAC, I got a job with the AVID program also tutoring at Spurgeon Intermediate as well as Segerstrom Fundamental. I taught at LAthrop intermediate during my credential program and soon after completing it.  I then taught in Culver City and Carson.

My primary goal in the school year is building my student’s confidence in their ability to do math.  Many come with a preconceived notion that doing math is a natural ability.  I believe that if students believe they can do it then they will do math and much more.  I encourage my parents to not make comments about their inability to do math and keep away from expressions such as “I’ve always been bad at math”, “math is not my strong subject”, “I was bad at math even in college”, “I see my kid’s math and it’s not like what I did”.  Statements like these further validate our students’ feeling of an inability to do math.  Try statements such as “well let’s look at it”, “you can do it, let’s break it down”, “please ask Mrs. Mendez, she has tutoring M-F 1:30-2:00 pm”, “let’s look at the notes/discussions you had in class”. I encourage all my families to reach out with questions or concerns at any time.

I am beyond the moon and stars with excitement to be here at Samueli Academy.  I feel I am home again.