Welcome to Myrna Cervantes' Fieldwork Portfolio - Bienvenidos
School Information
Palisades Charter High School
15777 Bowdoin St.
Pacific Palisades, Ca 90272
Field Site Supervisor: Principal Pam Magee and Assistant Principal Monica Iannessa
PLI Fieldwork Cohort 12A
University Field Supervisor: Merle Price
Student Biography & Information
Myrna Cervantes is a fourteenth-year Spanish teacher at Palisades Charter High School. In addition to teaching Spanish for Natives I, Honors Spanish for Natives II and Spanish III she is a sixth year Advancement Via Individual Determination AVID teacher. When she started the seventh grade at Paul Revere Jr. High, she met Mrs. Dean, a very knowledgeable, structured yet very caring and sweet teacher; this is when Myrna had an epiphany of becoming a teacher.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish Language and Culture from California State University Northridge (CSUN). While attending CSUN, she studied abroad in one of the most prestigious universities in Spain: La Universidad Complutense de Madrid, here she gained first hand experience and knowledge about Spanish language and culture. After Spain, she moved to Mexico City where she was the Director of the Bicultural Program at the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Campus Ciudad de Mexico (ITESM-CCM) for four years. As part of her job description as a director, she was required to teach ESL, Comparative Sociology and/or Comparative Literature. In 2001, she obtained her Master of Arts in Education from Western Kentucky University.
In 2002, she became a full-time teacher in the Foreign Language Department at Pali High and has since been at this school. Here she Co-Founded and presently Coordinates Fuerza Unida, a program designed to support academic and social needs of Latino students. She is also the Founder and leader of the Latino Student Union (LSU) which seeks to raise awareness of the education barriers that Latino students face everyday and how students can surpass them. In 2010, she began a series of empowerment workshops/seminars tailored specifically for Latino parents.
The ultimate goal that Myrna has been working on since 2002 at Pali is to create a college going culture so that college is attainable for all students.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead
Myrna Cervantes can be reached at mcervantes@palihigh.org
Myrna Cervantes is a candidate for the 2012 M.Ed. at UCLA's Principal Leadership Institute.
School Context
Description and History of the School
“PCHS is an independent comprehensive four-year high school chartered by the LAUSD. Opened in 1961, the 30-acre campus is in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles, at the western edge of the city. Designed in the 1950s, the School’s ten main buildings and supplemental bungalows surround an attractively landscaped common. A seismic upgrade maintains the sense of openness in the original site plan. PCHS continues to improve the physical environment of the school through encouragement and support of the plant manager’s staff, immediate removal of graffiti and safety hazards, promotion of campus beautification projects, frequent assessment of campus conditions by the administration and plant manager, and preparation of staff and pupils for emergencies, in compliance with the school’s annual Integrated Safe School Plan.
Mission
The mission of Palisades Charter High School (PCHS) is to educate its diverse pupils by developing their skills and talents to help each of them make a positive contribution to the global society.
Vision
PCHS envisions itself as a national model of a rigorous college-preparatory educational program serving a diverse student population. Through shared responsibility, a student centered curricular and co-curricular program, a standards-based and -aligned curriculum, inclusive classes, and an extensive use of technology, the overarching goal is to create a highly enriched comprehensive secondary school. PCHS will educate all pupils to reach their intellectual, physical, psychological, and social potential in a safe, cooperative, and supportive environment. The educational program will prepare PCHS graduates for admission to four-year colleges, institutions of higher learning, and post-secondary career fields. (READ MORE ...)
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