What was it like moving to City Heights neighborhood?

When I first started at Crawford High School, I had grown up in San Diego, and I got offered a teaching position at Crawford High School so I went to interview, but to be honest, I had never been to City Heights or El Cerrito. So I used my map, and I got myself to Crawford High School and I was first struck that so many of the business signs and street signs were in different languages that I didn
t recognize. So, I pulled up at the school, there weren't any students on campus at that time, and had my interview. They shortly thereafter offered me the position, and I accepted it, because it was a job as a first-year teacher, which was great. My first day teaching my first class, I took out my roster and I looked at my roll of students, and I looked at the names and it was my first panic as a teacher, going “I don't know how to say seventy percent of my students' names.” And that was my first insight into the neighborhood that I was becoming a part of. When I first taught, it was different than anything I'd ever encountered, and so I said, “I'm going to give Crawford four years, and then I'm going to go to another school where it's a little bit easier to deal with the kids.” And shortly thereafter I fell in love with the kids at Crawford, their rich culture, identity, and I started learning things, learning things about myself, and their cultures, and my view of the world, and their view of the world, and it was really enlightening. Even fifteen years later I still am learning from the kids and the cultures they represent. So it's a rich opportunity to really grow as a person and a world citizen. 

What were the first impressions of the neighborhood or the community?

My first impressions were unknown. Like I said earlier the street signs were in different languages and a lot of my kids were from different places. Some were from countries that I'd never heard of, and so it was kind of like this unknown entity that I wasn't sure what it was. As I heard my kids' stories, through senior exhibition or just personal communication, it really let me know that there was a lot of this world and history and strife that from my background I wasn't aware of, and it made me want to know more so I could understand the point of view of my students.

What kind of vibe do you get off the neighborhood?

I get a feeling of culture, obviously. But, of struggle. I think a lot of the people who live in this neighborhood are struggling to make ends meet, they're struggling to find themselves in this American “dream”, so how to allow their children to grow up in America and experience the cultural norms here, but still holding on to their culture to where they come from, and I think that causes some strife within families, and also some culture identity issues with the kids. But I think there's a pride, this is who I am and this is where I'm from, and I'm proud of that, I'm proud of what my family or my culture has overcome and I want to share that with people.

Alright thank you.