"Hi, I'm Jessica. I have enjoyed working in educational settings for 27 years and have been a successful teacher for 20 years. Helping students learn is one of my greatest passions. I believe that so much of learning is about confidence. Being a positive person, I have really been able to motivate students to improve in the subject matter. I try my best to make lessons, interesting, engaging, and challenging. I also also plan my lessons according to the student's needs and learning styles really trying to individualize the educational experience.

I did my undergrad in anthropology at Occidental College, and worked part time as an Americorps educator at the same time. I worked for several years as an elementary teacher in a Bolivia in English and California in Spanish. I obtained my teaching degree at San Francisco State University. A Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship allowed me to obtain my masters in Latin American Studies in Spanish in Quito, Ecuador where I taught 5th grade. I then moved to Cali, Colombia and taught middle school and high school social studies in English for five years. Living, working, and studying in Latin America for 12 years helped me with my Spanish fluency in speaking, reading, writing, and listening. I have been teaching Spanish in middle school for the past four years and have also just earned a Spanish endorsement for my Oregon teaching license through coursework at George Fox University.

For the past seven years I have incorporated mindfulness meditation into my elementary and middle school classes to reduce student stress, anxiety, and depression, and increase concentration.

I have been practicing yoga for the past 13 years and have a 100 hours yoga teaching certificate, and am studying to complete my 200 hours. I believe Yoga strengthens the body and the nervous system.

I look forward to working with you. I am very flexible with my schedule. I do online and in person tutoring. Please contact me so I can support your educational needs." less...