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NAME:
Patti Amaya
SCHOOL:
Condit Elementary
CLASS:
5th Grade
I really didn't think this section was necessary to complete, but then
realized that knowing a little something about the person who is in charge of
your children a good part of the day really does matter. My life experiences
contribute to my being able to understand and help all children, and for that
I am so thankful for each and every one of them. Because of my age, there is
a lot to share, but I will try to be brief. :-)
I was born in New Jersey to parents from Boston. We spent a good part of each
summer in Boston and on Cape Cod. My brother, sister, and I moved fairly
often with our parents. We moved from N.J., to Chicago, to Dallas, and back
to Chicago. I attended 3 elementary schools. In our travels we visited
Colorado, the Pueblo Indian ruins in New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns, Meramac
Caverns, and of course Spring Break in Clearwater, Florida. It goes without
saying, I can give tours of the Freedom Trail in Boston, Plimouth Plantation,
Washington,D.C., Gettysburg, and Jamestown and Williamsburg Va. (my mom's best
friend lived in Alexandria). My fun and fabulous dad died in a car accident
when I was 15, so I started working right after that. I was fortunate to spend
a summer in a suburb outside of Paris with a friend of my dad's and his family
(I spoke French fluently by 15).
I graduated with a B.A. degree in French Ed. from the University of Illinois
at Champaign-Urbana. While studying there I met my husband, Manuel, who is
from Bucaramanga, Colombia. We lived in Pittsburg, PA, while he finished his
MBA at Carnegie-Mellon, then moved to Ann Arbor, MI, where he worked for Ford
Motor Co. in Dearborn. Right after our first son Kevin was born, we moved to
Bucaramanga, Colombia, where he ran his family's soda pop bottling business.
Our second son, David, was born there, and after five years we returned to
Chicago.
After four years living in a city I loved with many friends, we moved to
Claremont, CA. (I had always said that California was a nice place to visit,
but I wouldn't want to live there. :-)) Twenty years and the addition of a
daughter later we are still here. We both coached AYSO soccer (Manuel still
coaches club soccer), also, we attended more club and high school soccer and
water polo matches than I want to remember. Kevin is married and in his first
year of Residency at UCLA Harbor Hospital. David and his fiance Holly are both
lawyers working in San Diego. Kathleen is entering her second year at UC San
Diego and is already planning post graduate study. We have had a great ride
so far.
I started working at Condit teaching fifth grade over 13 years ago. I love the
curriculum, the school (Condit is our home school.), and the 10 and 11 year
old children.
I feel lucky to have had life experiences that allow me to educate and
understand my students in a very complete way. Thank you for sharing your
children with me. :-)
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