My name is David Cantu and I am a greatful husband and proud father of four beautiful children.  I currently reside in Brownsville where I am employed by the Brownsville Independent School District as a Social Studies teacher.  The grade levels that I teach are World History, 10th Grade, and US History, 11th Grade, at the Brownsville Learning Academy.  This is an alternative campus where students have the opportunity to regain or accelerate in credits need towards graduation.  I am excited to be in this course because I am currently enrolled at UTB for my Master's in Educational Leadership and I am taking this as a course substitution.  So it is a little break from the norm for me and I hope to learn from all of you enrolled in this course.http://komodo.utsystem.edu/med/dcantu1/edtc6340_david_intro.PPT

Hi, my name is Rosa Garcia, this course will be my fifth online course on my road to my masters degree. I am currently a doing resource for summer school at Valley View Elementary in Pharr, TX. Next year I will me moving to third grade with the same students I had in second, hopefully I prepared them well enough for TAKS. I am happily married to the gentleman beside me in the picture. We do not have any kids, yet! (Well we have a Chihuahua, Belle, but I guess that does not count.)

My name is Oscar Castillo. I was born and raised in Brownsville, TX and I am a graduate from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. I am proud to say that I teach mathematics at my Alma Mater, Lopez High School. 

I bleed Burnt Orange, but my heart is Blue and Gold.

Greetings!  I am a 22 year old graduate student at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) that will soon complete their Master's in Curriculum and Instruction in August 2008.  I have always liked helping and teaching others.  I began my education career at Hanna High School in the Teacher Education Career Pathway.  As soon as I graduated from high school in 2004, I enrolled at UTB and pursued my bachelor's in bilingual elementary education.  I was able to graduate from UTB in 3 years and became a Texas state certified bilingual elementary teacher in December 2007.  I knew I wanted to start my master's right away and did so January 2008.  While in the master's program, I have able to join different honorary societies and grant programs that have allowed me to excel in my coursework.  I have had a wonderful experience at UTB and am glad to have spent my undergraduate and graduate years at this institution.  I recently signed my first teaching contract at Harlingen CISD as a 4th grade teacher at Crockett Elementary.  Although I haven't taught, I am very enthusiastic and eager to get in that classroom and begin my experience as a bilingual teacher.

Hi, my name is Sheri Higgs and I have been teaching 12 years. I am composite certfied in Math and Science.  I am not as big a geek as it sounds because I also love playing music and taking care of my dogs and husband Jim.  I look forward to "seeing" you in class this summer.

Hello,

My name is Luis Troncoso.  I am a 3rd grade teacher at Brownsville ISD. I have taught 4 years and have been coaching soccer at a high school for 3 years.  I started the Educational Tech. program last summer, so this just my second semester.  My goals are to complete my masters degree in Educational Technology and get MTT and Social Studies Composite certification.  I would also love to obtain the position of Head Soccer Coach at the new high school schedule to open in the fall of 2010. 

Hi everyone! My name is Juan Miguel Garcia. Pictured with me is my nephew Nickolaus. I am currently a science lab teacher at J.S. Adame Elementary in Donna but I think my principal wants to move me to teach 4th grade math next year. I have been teaching for about five years now and really enjoy it! After I finish the MTT program I want to continue and get my masters degree.  I look forward to learning from everyone here!!

Hello everyone! I am Elizabeth Castillo but go by Lisa.  I am currently teaching 3rd grade summer school (only 14 days left but who's counting).  I am also approx. 15 days from completing my Masters in Educational Leadership. I just finished up two years as a Reading Coach and prior to that taught 5th grade Science as well as 2nd grade. I will hopefully be moving into a new position as a Reading Interventionist for next year. I am just beginning the MTT program and I am eager to learn all that I can! 

Hello all!  My name is Daniela Guardiola. I'm currently employed at Donna ISD and have been for the past 4 years (including this one).  I have taught 1st and 5th grade.  This last school year, I had the wonderful opportunity to be a Reading Coach at my campus.  Next year, I am scheduled to go back to a 1st grade classroom.  Since I don't want to bore you with my career talk I'll do it with my personal life:) J/K.  I hope that we get to know each other throughout the semester.

Hello, my name is Gabriela Peña.  I have been teaching at Harlingen High School for the past 5 years.  I really enjoy my job.  My first year teaching, I taught Algebra 1 for freshman and Geometry for sophomores.  The following year I was given PAP Algebra 2 and Algebra 2 for sophomores and juniors.  Since then I have been the Algebra 2 team leader.  This past year I worked directly with 13 out of our 27 teachers. I have been given the opportunity to teach Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, AMT, Pre-Calculus, and a TAKS Prep for repeaters.  Having such an opportunity really helps me keep my math skills sharp.  My goals are to complete my Masters in Educational Technology and get MTT certification.

This is the website for my PPT:

http://komodo.utsystem.edu/med/gpena2/edtc6340_%20gaby_intro.mht

Hi!  My name is Elvia Villafranca-Silva and I was born and raised in Harlingen, Texas.  I received my B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Computer Science from UT – Brownsville.  Currently I am employed at Texas State Technical College and working on transitioning from higher education to public education.  Looking forward to making a switch from technical to a Bilingual elementary classroom.  Looking forward to finishing my M.Ed in Technology which I started a few years back but which was put on hold due to the sudden death of my husband.

Eager to obtain my Masters fairly soon and optimistic at being in place within the public education system in the very near future.

My name is Celinda Tanguma and I’m an avid sports fan.  This is my family, husband (Aaron), son (Artie) 18, daughter in white (Alyssa) 20, and daughter (Arianna) 13.  I have a very athletic family.  My husband graduated from Spring Woods High School in Houston and came down to play baseball for UTPA.  I played basketball.  My senior year, we married.  Currently, I am the Girl's Athletic Coordinator @ Donna High School.  Aaron teaches outdoor education at Edcouch-Elsa High School.   My daughter, Alyssa graduated from Donna High in 2007 played volleyball and threw the discus in track. She attends UTPA.  Alyssa is Majoring in Kinesiology with a specialty in athletic training and minor in English.  Artie just graduated from Edcouch-Elsa High School and is going to attend Eastern Michigan on a full athletic scholarship (football).  His first day of class is June 29^th.  His major is PE and minor is communications.  Arianna will be transferring to Donna next year where she will also play volleyball and throw the discus.  She will be a freshman, and I am really excited because she will be with me.  We live in Elsa but I work in Donna.  So as you can see, our summer vacations always include a scheduled tournament.  We travel year round for athletic competition. So that’s my athletic family.