Where are you from?

I am from San Gabriel, born and raised.

What college did you attend?

Cal Poly Pomona for both my undergrad and my bachelors in mathematics as well as my teaching credential.

Why’d you choose to come to Arroyo?

Partly because I finished my credential in June and I wasn’t able to get into any classes and this was one of the schools that was nearby and I was also looking at San Diego. But Ms. Gonzales, the principal, after the interview she gave me the job and I accepted it. I know Arroyo is a great school and my fiance graduated here back in 2004. I also used to live in El Monte, so I knew it was a great school.

What were you doing before this position?

Enjoying my summer and not being my college.

How long have you been teaching?

This is my first year, so I have been teaching for a week now.

What subject(s) do you teach?

I teach mathematics. Specifically I teach integrated math one, integrated math three, and a tenth grade AVID class.

Why’d you choose to teach what you are teaching?

I’ve been passionate about math for such a long time. I think in high school math was the only subject where there was a concrete answer. For English, it was very subjective. I felt the teachers had a lot of say in what my grade was versus math where I either get the answer right or wrong. I like facts. Also, in mathematics I never had the best teacher. I felt like I can do a lot more to get kids engaged and hopefully get kids to change their minds about math.

What are some of your hobbies?

Playing with my pitbull Lila. She takes up all my time. I also like hiking, camping, being out in nature. I enjoy scrapbooking. I’m also about Netflix, Hulu, and baking.

What would you be doing if you were not teaching?

Something with animals. I’d probably create a doggy day care or try to find one. Who wouldn’t fall in love with playing with puppies all day?

How do you like Arroyo so far?

I love it. The staff and everyone has been super supportive of me. Everybody is here to let me know that they’re here to help me. I’m also here to help the kids so it’s a very strong team effort from everyone’s part and the students here are wonderful. There’s definitely a culture of wanting to do good and actually caring about grades.