NAME:
Susan O. Tinker
SCHOOL:
Truman Benedict Elementary School
CLASS:
Second Grade
SCHOOL PHONE:
(949)498-6617
I am lucky to work and live in the Forster Ranch community with my husband
(a high school math teacher) and our four children. I received my teaching
credential through C.S.U.L.B. My first teaching position was in Irvine, but
when I started raising my children, they became my top priorty and I stayed
at home with them. My oldest son is currently living in St. Louis while
working in his third year of medical school at St. Louis University. My
second son is living in Thousand Oaks. He graduated from CSUN in computer
science in May and is now happily employed by AMGEN, a bio-tech firm. My
oldest daughter is beginning her junior year at UCSD. She is majoring in
psychology and foreign language. Our youngest daughter is now a 6th grader
at BAMS and is in charge of keeping our, now almost
empty, house lively! She is very capable. We also have a 1 1/2 year old
golden retriever named Summer who keeps us busy! Although I still consider
my family my number one priority, it is hard to pay for college tuition with
the income of a stay at home mom. I started back into teaching in 1994 and
have been at Benedict since 1996. I have taught all grades from preschool
through fourth. I love teaching second grade. In this age child I find the
perfect balance of innocence, independence, self-discovery, and respect. I
am so fortunate to be able to work with such wonderful children (and their
parents!).
It is my hope that every child in my class will gain the self-confidence and
self-awareness necessary for him to step forward and become a risk-
taker...just take a chance. If a child doesn't try, doesn't take that
chance, he will never know what may have been. He will only know what he
didn't try because he assumed he would fail. Every child has strengths and
weaknesses. We need to embrace each child's strengths and nurture and feed
the child's areas of need. Working together with the child and his parents,
I want every child to be exposed to whatever is necessary to help him to
reach his academic potential, as well as to grow socially and emotionally.
I believe the classroom should be a safe and secure environment where
the "Golden Rule" rules, and where the six traits of the Character Counts
program are the standard by which we are measured. I believe that our
classroom is a child's home away from home.
