This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20

Family: Husband, Lee and children, Lucas, Logan and Rachel

School: Denair Elementary Charter Academy

Subject taught: Transitional kindergarten

Experience and education: BA from CSU Stanislaus, 13 years teaching preschool at Denair State Preschool. Currently completing preservice and then IMPACT program at TCSJ (Teachers College of San Joaquin).

What attracted you to Denair? DECA incorporates many wonderful programs such as PBIS, Academic Adventures and the Character Bound program along with college awareness as part of the learning culture.  I love the small-town feel, my amazing co-workers and the families that make up our school community. I am also an alumni (DHS class of 1992), member of the community and our three children all graduated from Denair.  

Why most inspires you about teaching? I absolutely love my students; they inspire me every day. Observing children utilize their critical thinking skills, collaborating, communicating and being creative while engaging in hands-on activities is inspiring. Seeing how they grow and learn through the year always amazes me.

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? Going from a part-day program to a full-day will be something new for me this year as well as new curriculum.

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity?  Integrating STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities during free choice is a great way for students to use their critical thinking skills and creativity. When used in small groups, students then practice collaborating with others and building communication skills.

What do you want your students to remember? I want students to remember that their TK class was a safe, welcoming and engaging space to come to school and their teacher was caring and fun.

How can parents support what you do?   Fill your child with a love of learning by showing interest, asking them questions and encouraging them. Read to your child and foster a love of reading.

What would surprise people about your job? I think people would be surprised how much time educators spend outside of class time attending professional development and planning engaging classroom activities. What do you do for fun? I love to spend time reading, traveling and spending time with family and friends.

This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20

Family: I am married. I have two boys. Seth is 9 and Blake is 7. Both of them attend DECA.

School: Denair High School

Subject taught: Special education moderate/severe 9-12 grade as well as adult transition.

Experience and education: Graduated from Denair High School. Went to Modesto Junior College before transferring to University of Phoenix. I was a para-educator for Turlock School District for 15 years, working with moderate/severe students at the junior high level. 

What attracted you to Denair? I attended Denair in elementary, middle school and high school. Denair is my hometown and a place that will always be dear to me. When I noticed they had a job opening to teach special education, I quickly applied. I am back to where it all started for me. It is a great place to raise a family and I am blessed to now be a part of the staff here in Denair.

Why most inspires you about teaching? Teaching is such a rewarding career. My students inspire me daily. My students inspire me to do my best and demonstrate the best version of myself each day I walk into my class.  When I see my students’ growth — even if it’s something small — it makes a difference in them and that’s why I am here for my students’ success!

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? This is my first year teaching and I know I will be faced with many challenges. In special education, you work with many different individuals who service our students. I think that scheduling meetings and service times within my classroom will be the most challenging for me, but I am going to do my best to communicate with and accommodate everyone on my team and meet the needs of my students.

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? I love teaching my students life skills. I like them to be productive and show independence.  My life skills lessons are my favorite because the students are able to take these activities and use them to help at home or even find a job placement in the future.

What do you want your students to remember? I want my students to remember to work hard and never give up. Success is not measured in size, but how hard you worked to get there!

How can parents support what you do? I believe that parents can support what I do by reinforcement of what is being done at school and implement that at home as well. Parents need to be a part of the child’s education and being involved is important.  I believe having parents on board with your classroom program is helpful in building relationships.

What would surprise people about your job? Every day is a new adventure =)What do you do for fun? I love to be with my family and friends. I enjoy exercising and going to the gym. My boys are in sports and I love going to their games and being the team mom. I also enjoy shopping and being in the sun.

This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20

Family: Daughter: Brie, Sons: Isaac and Logan, Dog: Butters, Cat: Peanut

School: Denair Middle School

Subject taught: Seventh- and eighth-grade math

Experience and education: Two years teaching sixth grade. BA from Western Governors University in 2017. Currently pursuing a master’s in mathematics education.

What attracted you to Denair? I was raised in a small town, Midland, Texas. I love that Denair is a small town and tight-knit community. It’s the kind of place I want to be a part of and raise my children in.

Why most inspires you about teaching? Being allowed to the privilege to shape the minds, ethics and morality of children. Educating a child in math is my first priority. Setting an example for them as an adult is a close second. It’s important for children to hear that everyone is valued and equal, but they need to see it in practice, too. The only people who spend more time with children are their parents. Teachers have a priceless influence on children and I want my influence to be of compassion, justice and kindness.

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? I will be teaching my own child for the first time this year. I expect that to be challenging, but ultimately rewarding.

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? I LOVE real-world application activities. I think that students gain a deeper understanding, especially in math, when they can see how it applies to real life and how they’ll use what we’re learning about as time goes on.

What do you want your students to remember? I want them to remember to be kind to others. Take the high road every time. It’s not always about winning or being right; being kind is just as important.

How can parents support what you do? I think that parents can do the most by being open and honest with their children, in an age-appropriate way, of course. It’s easy to tell our kids little white lies about why they should do what we say or why the world is what it is. I challenge parents to take the path least traveled and level with your kids. Explain to them why, how or what for whenever possible. We can’t treat them like children for 17 years and 364 days and expect them to be ready for adulthood on their 18th birthday. We need to put in the difficult work now.

What would surprise people about your job? Teachers spend a lot of time teaching children how to resolve problems. Conflicts are inevitable in a setting where people are put together in one room, or school, and come from many backgrounds with many different personalities. Throw puberty in the mix and you get a unique opportunity to shape lives.What do you do for fun? I spend most of my time with my kids. I love and collect video games and video game consoles as well as Nintendo memorabilia. I love to learn so I spend quite a bit of time reading to learn new things.

This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20

Family: I grew up with my mom, step-dad, and older brother

School: Denair High School

Subject taught: Biology, chemistry, anatomy, and physiology

Experience and education: One year of student teaching. Biology degree from California State University, Monterey Bay.

What attracted you to Denair? I was attracted to Denair because it was close to my home, Merced, and it seemed to have a very close-knit community. I love my family and am looking forward to meeting all of my Denair family as well.

Why most inspires you about teaching? I have had many amazing teachers in my life who have pushed me to do well and taught me amazing lessons about both life and subject matter. I strive to be a positive safe space for students where they feel comfortable exploring the world and learning all they can about life and science.

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? This is my first year teaching on my own in a classroom; that, in itself, is the most exciting challenge of my year. I will be excited to learn and grow from this experience. You can only have one first year!

What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? My favorite activity in science has to be labs. Labs are the true essence of science where you can explore the content and work with materials to help it stick in your brain. Sience is all about trial and error.

What do you want your students to remember? I want my students to know it’s OK to make mistakes and it’s OK to not have everything figured out. School is a safe place to learn from your mistakes and grow from them. Teachers are there to guide you and help you learn while you help them learn. Everyone is learning things their whole life, so it’s OK to be figuring everything out.

How can parents support what you do? Parents can just do their best at taking an interest in what their child is learning in school. Having students talk about material outside of school is a great way for them to retain more information, almost like a quick informal study session! As long as you support your child in every way you can, it will be a great year. As parents, you are free to ask me any questions you have about me or your student; I will help in any way I can. I like open communication and collaboration.

What would surprise people about your job? Since it’s my first year, I’m sure I’m going to find many things that surprise even me about my job, but I think a lot of people don’t realize how much time setting up a lab takes and how much supplies you find out you need when you go to do the lab. Labs are the best part of science, but they are also the hardest thing, as a teacher, to set up and run. You want to make sure every student is both having fun and safe, while also trying to fit it into a 50-minute period.What do you do for fun? In my free time, I love to play video games, watch shows, swim, go to the beach and listen to music.

This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20

Family: Married one year

School:  Denair Middle School

Subject taught: Math intervention, PE, and leadership 

Experience and education:  I graduated from Fresno State in 2016 with a degree in Kinesiology. I then got my teaching credential at CSU Stanislaus. I am beginning my second year of teaching after teaching independent study at Denair Charter Academy as well as hath intervention at Denair Middle School last year. I am also the current high school JV boys basketball coach at Denair High School.

What attracted you to Denair? Denair is and always has been my home. I was raised in Denair and attended Denair schools from kindergarten through high school. I am a fourth-generation Denair Coyote and take great pride in that. I love the small-town atmosphere and the community. This is where my wife and I plan to start our family and raise our children, so I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work in this district. 

Why most inspires you about teaching? I teach because I truly want to make a difference in my students’ lives. There are very few professions that provide an opportunity to influence and inspire our youth and that is exactly what I hope to accomplish as an educator. 

What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? A challenge that I look forward to this year would be raising the school spirit here at Denair Middle School. As the leadership teacher, I want to create a culture at the middle school that makes kids feel safe and excited to come to school each day.