I was born to be a teacher.

I've been at Santa Monica High School for over 18 years now. My students come from all walks of life: blended families, we have every race, and they all are bilingual.

Teaching is definitely my passion. I feel like people are born to do certain things. I was born to be a teacher.

The people that believed in me were my teachers—I wanted to be that for other kids. I realized in college that I wanted to pursue this profession partly because I felt like I wasn’t very well-prepared for school, and I wanted kids to feel prepared, unlike my experience. There’s nothing better than making a difference in other people's lives. 

I was first introduced to Facing History 10 years ago. Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening because you're able to look at every lesson that you teach through different filters. It allows us to be human and to have human reactions to terrible things that have happened in history. And through this filter you can help students go through that process, be able to talk about it, and then see what they could do to improve society and react with empathy and sympathy. It’s such a powerful program. 

Facing History also offers most of their amazing material available for free, so any teacher can go and access everything! The tools they give you as an educator on how to present heavy subject matter to kids creates an environment where you can facilitate difficult conversations. And these tools allow you to ensure that no one feels left out or attacked by someone else for having different perspectives. It’s incredible how Facing History can guide young people to have these discussions that we as adults often can’t face. 

When the pandemic hit, teaching was so difficult because kids were feeling anxious, desperate, and depressed. Not being able to just reach out and give them a hug was really difficult. But the resources I received from my colleagues through Facing History were invaluable. I couldn't have gotten through it without them.

And again, after George Floyd's murder, Santa Monica was incredibly active. The places that we had known that were safe for us were suddenly either looted or destroyed the day after George Floyd died. Facing History had the news story, and they had activities for kids on how to process everything, and they gave me the roadmap I needed. And these lessons inspired my students to take action. Many went into the community to help clean up. Some students who were artists worked to transform negative graffiti into beautiful murals. They wanted to help. They wanted to be upstanders. I think that alone tells you the impact that Facing History has on kids.