Ms. Montealvo's Panther Prep Preview 2020
Our first two days are designed to help you acclimate to CCMS and Distance Learning.
Dee Montealvo
Dee Montealvo joined CCMS in 2019 as a 6th/7th grade Mathematics teacher. Social justice causes have been important to her since earning her Asian American Studies and Political Science degree at UC Davis. She learned that prevention is much more powerful than intervention while working as an HIV/AIDS case manager in Los Angeles.
Math has been a gatekeeper for many students and giving students access to higher education and advanced pathways motivates her to teach math–first in Sacramento, the Bronx, Baltimore City, South Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, Inglewood, and now in Culver City.
In addition to facilitating math instruction, Ms. Montealvo founded the CCMS PERIOD Club, held various positions in the Culver City Federation of Teachers (CCFT) union, and was involved in the CCMS PTSA and School Site Council.
If she’s not in her classroom with her students then she's at the Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall, or Huntington Library with her husband and son.
Posts
Ms. Montealvo's Welcome Note
Welcome to Our Math Class! Learning is a shared experience so I do hope that we spend our year together working in an inclusive environment. Together, we will create a learning community that we can all be proud of. Our mantra is, “I’m going to do well!”
Most CCUSD students are familiar with story problems in CGI Math. I think our stories are important in understanding math and one another too. I look forward to sharing my story with you and understanding about all of my students and their families.
My parents and I left Vietnam in 1981 as refugee “boat people.” We were lucky to be saved by Bernard Kouchner, a French doctor and now diplomat, who founded Doctors Without Borders. My parents and I stayed in a refugee camp in Singapore before being sponsored by a church in Saint Joseph, Michigan. My parents found that there would be more opportunities in the Los Angeles area so they found work in the garment industry. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and I’m the first one in my family to attend college. UC Davis was the perfect environment for me because I found supportive friends and professors in the Asian American Studies and Political Science programs.
My first two jobs were working as a sushi server and a Sylvan Learning Center Math instructor. I fell in love with both and now I get to navigate through each of the classroom tables to help serve my students! I taught in Sacramento, the Bronx, Baltimore City, South Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, and Inglewood before I found my permanent home in Culver Park High School. This year, I learned that there was a need for a math teacher at CCMS and I look forward to serving my new school community well. I hope to meet all the families and maybe even help with any math anxieties you may experience too.
If I’m not in front of my computer for Distance Learning, I am at the Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Huntington Library with my family. Hope to run into you sometime!
Please email me at [email protected] to share your story.
Be well!
