Self-introductions

[Donna Jamshidnejad]

Hello everyone,

I teach 10th grade AP World History and Restorative Justice at a local high school here in Los Angeles known as L.A.C.E.S. 20% of the World History curriculum includes East Asia, from the first civilization to present day. I'm here to learn more history and incorporate visual culture (my weak point) into my curriculum. 

[Daniel Horowitz]

Hello everyone- looks like we have an interesting and eclectic group of educators. Looking forward to meeting everyone tomorrow.

I teach independent studies in LAUSD and my site location is in Venice. I have an art background- my undergraduate was in Fine Art and I have some experience doing storyboards for film and advertising. Art as a subject thankfully is still in the school curriculum under A-G requiremients, but often we teach it from a Western perspective because it's what's in our texts and what we are familiar with. I lokk forward to the workshop.

[Kim Leng]

Hi all,            

My name is Kim Leng.  I’m a high school librarian in Los Angeles.  This summer has given me the opportunity to read and travel.  I recently got back from a trip to Punta Banda.  I look forward to meeting all of you tomorrow as we spend this week learning about East Asian visual arts.

[Jessica Rodarte]

Hello Everyone!  

My name is Jessica Rodarte.  I teach World History to 10th graders at Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in Downtown Los Angeles.  I've been fascinated by the East Asian Art, particularly subject matter and styles since my days in college and am looking forward to learning a lot more about the visual culture of the East.  

[Juana Evink]

Hi everyone,

I'm excited to meet everyone, and learn a lot from this seminar. This is my 5th seminar with USC-China Institute, and I hope it will not be the last one. I teach 7th grade World History at John Muir Middle School in South Central LA.

[Anthony Pollard]

Yes! I am excited to be a part of this wonderful opportunity to include these East Asian studies into our curriculum. After reading these posts, I feel like I already know everyone; Are we family? LOL!

     I teach Expository Reading and Writing (ERWC), and American Literature. I facilitate a project-based learning environment, so students apply their learning into practice now; they do not need to wait until they graduate to get results from their learning. Well, see you all soon!

[Natali Ramon]

Hello everyone, 

My name is Natalí Ramón and I am a Spanish teacher at Mendez High School in Boyle Heights.  In past years I had been an avid participant in these institutes and I was thrilled to see a new topic was created that I was eligible to participate in. I am looking forward to learning more about Asia this coming week. 

[Helen Kang]

Hi everyone, I am very excited for this week of learning about East Asian Cultures and to meet my new classmates with whom I will be studying with. 

I teach Korean language and choral music at North Hollywood High School, and this week’s seminar will add further depth to my understanding and knowledge to enrich for my Korean language curriculum. 

I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to participate and learn with all of you. 

See you all very soon!

[Aileen Level]

Hello! My name is Aileen Level. I teach 6th and 7th grade World History at the Alice and Nahum Lainer School in Los Angeles. This will be my 4th year at my current school. I have participated in several programs through the US-China Institute in the past and am thrilled to have another opportunity to improve my East Asian materials. Working with middle schoolers, it's particularly important to use visuals as much as possible!
I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone this week.

[Jess Meyer]

My name is Jess Meyer.  I teach World History / World History AP in San Marcos, TX.  I'm extremely excited to learn more about the visual culture to take back to my kids. 

[Jane Shen]

Hi Jing Shuang, 

I am so glad that you are in this seminar. I have met you in several other workshops and also texted you late in the evening last night.

Hope that we both will have a good time here.

Jane Shen

[Juan Liebana-Mena]

Hi everyone! My name is Juan and I'm really excited about this seminar. I've been teaching for 14 years and have been with LAUSD for 10 years. I have taught taught English, ESL and Spanish both at middle and high school level. I'm also an adventurous traveler and have been to over 20 countries and counting. In East Asia, I've only been to Japan though, but I'm planning a trip to China and Korea soon, so I'm looking forward to learning more about east asian countries through the visual culture.

[Gerlinde Goschi]

Hello everyone!  I am very excited and grateful to partake in this seminar.  I am looking forward to meeting everyone, to collaborating and learning together. I am a German Language Arts teacher at a Dual  Immersion/IB, charter school.  I love learning about the East Asian culture, traditions, and history, something I have not been exposed to much during my own education.  I am planning to share the knowledge gained in this seminar with my students and colleagues.  I hope to soon visit China to explore it and enforce what I am learning here.

[Jacqueline Mercado]

Hello everyone!  I am excited to embark on yet another educational journey with the USC US-China institute.  This is the 3rd seminar that I will be participating in and I am looking forward to learning about the history, culture and visual arts of East Asia and thinking about ways that I can implement different aspects of Asia into my teaching.  I am a teacher of English and most of my experience lies in teaching middle school but I am now teaching in the only indepedent study school within LAUSD and so I currently teach all subjects, grades 9-12.  Besides literature and the arts, world history is of particular interest to me and due to my participation in previous seminars, my interest in East Asia has been piqued. I am a life learner and I look forward to a week of much learning and collaboration with all of you. 

[Shad Springer]

Greetings, 

My name is Shad Springer and I’m a sixth grade multiple subjects teacher in Santa Barbara. Ancient China is an important unit in our social studies curriculum, and I’m especially looking forward to learning new ways to integrate visual arts projects into my pedagogy through this summer institute. Can’t wait to meet you all next week and collaborate during what should be a compelling week of learning and discussions! 

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