About this blog: I am a language arts teacher at Crittenden Middle School and the facilitator of the CMS Panther Pen blog. I grew up in the Bay Area and I love it here. I went to school in Santa Clara, and studied literature and political science ...  (More)

About this blog: I am a language arts teacher at Crittenden Middle School and the facilitator of the CMS Panther Pen blog. I grew up in the Bay Area and I love it here. I went to school in Santa Clara, and studied literature and political science at SJSU. My teaching career began with a short stint with high schoolers in 2004, and I moved to my home at Crittenden in 2006. There are too many reasons to list here about why I love my job, but the most important one is that I love the students that I work with. When not talking about books and writing at school, I am home enjoying playtime with my two daughters and music teacher husband. This blog is a collaboration between the thoughtful and inspiring students, staff, and parents of Crittenden Middle School. We will be sharing this space with all of the stakeholders in our Panther community. I would like it to be a place where Crittenden Panthers of all ages can write about issues or ideas that are important to them - whether they be silly or serious - and have a response from the community that validates that they are here, they are heard, and they are valued for who they are.  (Hide)