This is one in a series of Q&A’s with employees new to Denair Unified in 2024-25.
Family: My parents, Mary Theresa and Marco Antonio; and my brothers, Scott and Anthony
School: Denair High School
Subject taught: Math 1(H) and Math 2(H)
Experience and education: I graduated from Orestimba High School in Newman and have a B.S. in computer science from CSU Stanislaus. I have been teaching for four years, though this is my first full year certificated.
What attracted you to Denair? I’ve always gravitated towards smaller areas and communities, so the jump from Newman to Denair was very mild. Also, I love the Turlock area.
What most inspires you about teaching? Seeing success in my students, both small and grand. It is forever gratifying to see something in them click or for something to finally make sense. Also, getting to know my students and see their challenges and helping them in whatever little ways I can. Getting to be a little piece of their life is just as rewarding.
What is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? Adversity in math has always been a problem, and I think that comes a lot from mindset. People think they aren’t good at something, so then they aren’t. I want to break that mindset and show my students that they really can get good and be good at something if they stick with it and keep pushing.
What is your favorite teaching tool or activity? You will never hear me say a bad thing about Desmos. Visuals are fantastic and Desmos is all visuals.
What do you want your students to remember? Learning doesn’t start and end with school, we just give you good structure and guidance here. You learn throughout your whole life, so the best thing you can do for yourself is learn HOW to learn best while you’re here.
How can parents support what you do? Just keep them on task and make sure they’re keeping up with their notes, their homework, and any tests or quizzes coming up. Also encourage them to reach out and ask for help themselves, or to try new things.
What would surprise people about your job? How easy it is to have patience for your students. So many people have said, “I could never, I have no patience.” But when you like your job and your students, that’s way easier to do than it seems.
What do you do for fun? Video games and music. I recently beat the Shadows of the Erdtree DLC for Elden Ring, and just finished replaying Dark Souls III. I’ll probably go back to Minecraft soon since 1.21 just came out.
