About Me

Hello! My name is Brenda Garay. I am of Mexican descent and a native Spanish speaker. I grew up as a child in San Diego-Tijuana area. I attended the primary grades in a small school in Tijuana, and started 4th grade in San Diego after moving to the U.S. I grew up in a primarily Spanish-speaking neighborhood. I have two older sisters who are also educators - a high school math teacher and an elementary school teacher.

                                  

I graduated from Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, California. Then, for the next 6 years, I attended and graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor's degree in English literature and a teaching credential in secondary English language arts and Spanish as a foreign language. I connected with and taught secondary aged students from schools in the border area to inner city San Diego. In some schools, I have also served as a special education co-teacher supporting teachers in K-8 classrooms. 

                         

After 6 years of teaching in the public schools in the County of San Diego, I transitioned to Catholic education. This is my first year teaching at a Catholic school with the Diocese of San Diego. I am a first grade teacher at St. Michael's Academy in Paradise Hills. St. Michael Academy is an Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Blended Learning School. I am becoming highly appreciative of Catholic schools as I firmly believe our children need daily exposure to the Catholic faith in order to develop a strong religious foundation and moral system. From my experience in public schools to this year in Catholic education, I am very fond of the formation of Catholic communities and how much they devote themselves to unity and connection. I love the strong sense of community and the devotion to academic and service learning.

     
This year I am also working towards my master's degree in teaching with emphasis in elementary education. It is my intention to get the Reading Added Authorization and Certification in the near future. Another related goal is to become a Catechist teacher to teach religious education young children and teenagers who will be preparing for their sacraments (First Communion or Confirmation). I'm becoming a believer of the "whole child approach to learning" because academics are not the only thing that matters most. As an educator, my future plans are to integrate socioemotional learning (SEL) and spiritual formation into my curriculum to promote the intellectual, social, emotional, and spiritual development in my students.