My Involvement
ACTIVE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
Experienced School Board Member
I am currently an elected school board member of the Corona-Norco Unified School District (CNUSD). I first got elected in 1990 and served the District until 2003 for 13 years. At this period of time, I initiated the practice of collaboration between the District Administration and the two employee associations --- CNTA and CSEA --- in the 90’s in handling negotiations and finding solutions to immediate problems and challenges. I also helped in initiating the implementation of dual language immersion program to meet the needs of the English learners and foster the use of two languages for non-Spanish speaking students. Currently, our District has dual language immersion programs in several elementary, middle/intermediate school, and high school. We also have a dual language immersion program in Mandarin/Chinese.
I ran again and got elected as school board member in 2008, the seat I am holding up to the present for 16 years. At this period, I introduced the creation of the district’s “think-tank” to study the issue of achievement gap, equity, and to find ways how to address the disparity in achievement among the diverse groups of students. I continue to focus my attention on improving the District’s curriculum and instruction including professional development. More importantly, I initiated the creation of the District’s policy on equity and helped in writing its major sections that talk about equality and equity, motivation, engagement, and social justice. I also initiated the writing of the resolution that honor the social and cultural identity of students, teachers, and staff including the plight of the LGBTQ students and students with special needs.
​PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT:
Experienced Professor, Teacher, Teacher Educator
I have been involved in teacher education for 35 years as a faculty in both public and private universities (14 years at CSU Dominguez Hills; currently, 21years at University of Redlands). Prior to my teacher education experience, I was a junior high school classroom teacher. I have served as an associate dean, director of teacher education, and coordinator of credential program. Currently, I am Professor of Literacy and Teacher Education. I am the founding and past director of the University of Redlands’ Center for Educational Justice. I authored and/or co-authored several published books and articles in education. My research agenda includes student engagement, social and educational justice, critical theory, pedagogy, and literacy, adaptation pedagogy, achievement gap, second language acquisition, and mentoring of diverse faculty. My most current research work focuses on student engagement and achievement gap and the influence of social and cultural capital, social class, funds of knowledge, language in dual language immersion programs, critical resistance in education, and literacy. I have facilitated numerous webinars for K-12administrators and teachers in the areas of distance learning across content area subject matters, mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in schools, and reopening of schools models. I continue to make presentations at professional educational meetings that include California Council on Teacher Education, California Association for Bilingual Education, National Association for Bilingual Education, Hawaiian International Conference on Education, and more recently, at California Association of Latino/a Superintendents and Administrators.
Family Engagement and Participation in a Community Service Club
I supported the creation of the Parent Center in the District. I invite parents to communicate with and make use of the CNUSD’s Parent Center for their needs related to mentoring and tutoring their children, dual language instruction for both students and parents, and other cultural awareness concerns. I also communicate with parents on a regular basis and respond promptly to parents’ questions and concerns. I attend the meetings organized by parents and support the initiatives related to inclusion and social acceptance of ALL students especially those with special needs.
I have been participating in community civic events as a member of the Circle City Rotary Club for 34 years and other community gatherings including Juneteenth, July 4th parade, Cinco de Mayo parade, and Labor Day parade.