Lisa Monson:
In Picture: (left) Shana Prince, (right) Lisa Monson
Monte Vista:
Grades 3/4:
805-687-5333:
Dear Parents,
Hi, my name is Lisa Monson. This is my ninth year of teaching at
Monte Vista School, but my eleventh year of being part of this fabulous
community of students, parents, and teachers. My favorite subjects to teach
are reading, writing (especially poetry), science and social studies!
Although, I have to admit I get pretty competitive when it comes to Math Super
Bowl! I hope you are as excited as I am to return to a whole new year!
I grew up in a small town in New Jersey named Cherry Hill (about fifteen
minutes from Philadelphia) and then moved to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB and
play women’s lacrosse. I transferred to California State University,
Northridge to pursue a science degree in Nutrition. After graduation, I
couldn’t wait to get back to Santa Barbara. My husband’s name is Peter, and we
just celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We have two beautiful little
children, Ellie and Levi. Levi just turned 3 years old in August, and has
grown so much this summer both physically, and mentally. Our summer was so
fun, and busy because Levi was able to participate more in everything we did
from swimming, biking, skateboarding, and playing at the beach, hiking,
kayaking and camping. His favorites are skateboarding, basketball, surfing (on
his boogie board), swimming, and keeping up with his big sister. Sometimes I
feel more like a referee in a wrestling match than a mommy, but we have fun.
Ellie is going to be 5 years old in a week. She is starting Kindergarten at
Foothill School, and can't wait. She has been learning to ride her bike all
over, the beach, and bike paths. She also enjoys skateboarding, swimming, and
has been learning to write numbers, and do math problems. She fell in love
with the Pink Panther cartoon over the summer. It is such a joy to be able to
part of their learning process as a parent, and a teacher. They are both
constantly teaching us to be better parents and hopefully better teachers as
well. Peter and I both enjoy playing and watching sports of all kinds. I love
to play tennis, run and play soccer. I have run three marathons (26.2 miles
long, about the distance from here to Ventura), one in Sacramento (our state
capital), and two in Santa Barbara. I am thinking about running the Santa
Barbara Marathon this November, so I am trying to fit in running whenever I
get a chance. As most of you know, my favorite football team is the New York
Giants. I have been watching and going to games since I was three years old.
I hope that one day I will be able to bring Ellie and Levi to a game. GOOOO
GIANTS! Since my husband loves the Packers, we enjoy watching both.
I have many hobbies. I love to run, garden, read, fish, camp, hike,
kayak, bike and I really enjoy horseback riding when the opportunity arises.
Ellie and Levi are at the perfect age to start doing all the things we love to
do. This summer we took them both on their second camping trip to King’s
Canyon. They loved it! I can’t begin to tell you how many rocks were thrown
into the King’s River. Hopefully we will be able to continue to camp every
year. Summer has been very busy! Besides camping, we spent time going to the
beach, swim lessons, walks, runs, picking blueberries, going to playgrounds,
birthdays, kayaking, and visiting with friends and family. Finally, at the
end of the school year last year my family and we WON a kitchen makeover from
our local KEYT news station. All of the wonderful sponsors that donated their
time, and goods have started to get underway on plans for our new kitchen.
I'll be sure to share with all of the new updates. We are so grateful to
everyone who commented, and voted. I can’t wait to hear all about your
adventures over the summer.
Besides outdoor activities, I also have a passion for reading and collecting
vintage items. Do you enjoy reading? I love to read! I especially like to
read books where you really get to know and understand the main characters’
thoughts and feelings, and can’t put the book down. My favorite genres are
realistic fiction, adventure, and humor. We’ll talk more about genres as we
begin our work at Monte Vista University (MVU). My favorite children’s series
is definitely, Harry Potter, especially Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Did any of you see the movie this summer? I enjoy reading the book before I
see the movie because often times some of the best details are left out of the
movie. Besides, I like to envision the book in my head before the movie does
it for me. I do have to admit a movie can get you interested in reading a
book too. What about you? Do you like to watch the movie first or read the book?
I believe that by all of us working together we can make this a very
successful year! Thank you for your cooperation in getting our year off to a
great start!
Sincerely,
Lisa Monson