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Preschool
I went to Learning to Learn here in Rohnert Park, CA. I only went to the school 3 days a week.
All of the three teachers were female.
An event that has stuck with me for life was one day during lunch time. My mom had packed me a sandwich I did not like and I went to the trash and threw it away. My teacher saw what I did and forced me to retrieve the sandwich out of the trash and eat it. -
Kindergarten
I started going to Waldo Rohnert Elementary School. My class was half day and mine started in the afternoon.
The morning teacher was a woman and my teacher in the afternoon was a man named Mr. Reghetti.
My class was not very diverse with very little multicultural backgrounds. There was one girl with a disability, however she did not have an aid. She was held back a year when everyone else went to first grade. -
1st Grade
My class was a hybrid of first and second graders. My teacher was also my dad's teacher when he was younger and went to the same school. Mr. Berman was an excellent teacher, but was not liked by most students.
This classroom was very multiculturally diverse. I met many friends, many of whom were a grade higher than me.
This class also participated in many cultural activities including, Chinese New Year, Luau's, Hanukkah, and many other small activities that represented other cultures. -
2nd Grade
For this class I was put into Mr. Berman's class again, however this was a single grade class.
The way of the classroom was almost the same as the year before, such as celebrating and representing different cultures throughout the year.
One difference was the lack of diversity, and we also had a young student teacher for half of the year.
The student teacher took the time to make connections with students, me included, and even took us out on ice cream dates after school hours. -
3rd Grade
This class I had my first female elementary school teacher, Ms. Monahan. She was very strict and always kept her classroom in order.
One interesting part about this year was learning about music, learning how to read music notes and being able to play my own instrument. -
4th Grade
Fourth grade was the year I made lifelong friends and had the most social experiences. My teacher, Ms. Torres wore purple contacts and was very into the arts. She made her class work and try out for the talent show. Everyone began joining band and the music groups. I felt pressured to do this as well. My mom found me a flute, just so I could join in with the rest of my friends. -
5th Grade
For fifth grade, I was in a classroom with a first time teacher. This class was basically run by the students, because the teacher asked for our opinions and took what we said into consideration. This teacher was also my student teacher in second grade and I was lucky enough to have a previous connection with her. She was young, enthusiastic and an overall great teacher. -
6th Grade
I began to go to Mountain Shadows Middle School in Rohnert Park, CA. It is an older school, just as Waldo Rohnert was.
I was lucky enough to get into a program called Expeditionary Learning. During this year we were in the program half of the time and had regular classes with other students for the rest of the time. For example, English, Math, Science and History were in the program and electives were with the rest of the school. -
7th Grade
I continued to stay in the EL program, however things became much more rigorous. All of my classes were entirely in the program, meaning I only interacted with other students in the program and we all only had classes together. The grading system was A, B, or F for every class and assignment.
Also, we went on field trips every month. Our curriculum focused on outdoors and such activities. We had huge projects every month and everything was extremely fast paced. I also started taking the bus. -
8th Grade
I continued to be in the EL program. This program was very expensive and I was lucky enough to get aids throughout my years.
