NAME:
Mrs. Kulkarni
SCHOOL:
Roy Herburger Elementary
CLASS:
Third Grade
SCHOOL PHONE:
(916) 681-1390
I feel very privileged to have been given an opportunity to mold young and
curious minds and to impart knowledge about the world around them. I have been
teaching for sixteen years and have attended colleges both in USA & abroad. I
have been married for more than two decades and have two boys. My older son is
finishing his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering at UC Berkeley and the other son
graduated with High Honors and a double major from UC San Diego in June
2010.
I have a Masters Degree from CA State University, Sacramento in Education and
a multiple subjects teaching credential from Multilingual and Multicultural
Center (M&M Center) of California State University, Sacramento. I also
completed my Masters degree in Social Work from Delhi University, India. For
my bachelors degree I studied science: biology and chemistry, that's why I
love teaching science in the classroom.
I have many interests and passions. My interest in music comes from my
musician mother. I have attended Gandharv Mahavidyalay, a college of music
in India to attain a bachelors degree in classical music of India.
I published my CD of Indian music in 2008. I also have certification
in Yoga instruction and I like teaching Yoga to my students. Music and dance
are my other passions besides teaching reading, writing, math, science, and
social studies. Currently, I am reviving my skills in Kathak dance, by taking
classes when I visit India annually each December. Kathak is a classical dance
form from North India. My students learn useful concepts through the songs I
like to teach them and they have fun while learning folk dances.
My interest in giving back to the community comes from following in the
footsteps of my father. He was involved in India's freedom struggle from the
British in his youth and spent many years with Mahatma Gandhi. I have been
involved in many charitable projects in India. In Sacramento, I have supported
the Mustard Seed School for homeless children. My class and I had a bake sale
in 2005 to raise money for Tsunami Relied Fund. We raised $700 by selling
baked goods made at home at the school gate for three weeks. The money was
donated to local chapter of UNICEF at the Roy Herburger school wide assembly.
For Katrina victims my class and I raised $100 and donated it to Red Cross. I
also organized a book drive to help the schools affected by Katrina where
school libraries were destroyed. I helped our school collect about 600 new and
gently used books and I was able to send a box of new books to a school in
Louisiana. The rest of the books were kept in our school library because being
new it also needed books.
Recently, I have also started a charitable foundation in India to work with
underprivileged youth there. In future I hope to do more work with the local
Mustard Seed School for homeless children in Sacramento.
For my students: I believe that a teacher's role should be that of a
facilitator of students' learning. I ensure that all my students learn the
third grade curriculum standards thoroughly. Furthermore, I would like my
students to develop independence in reading, writing, math and other subjects
while learning to be responsible citizens. I feel that a student can be very
successful when they are respectful, compassionate and if they constantly
challenge themselves to reach greater heights.
For the parents: I started out in the field of education as a parent volunteer
several years ago. I strongly believe that our students shine when parents are
involved in their education. When teachers and parents work together as a
team, our students do well in school. I have written a research paper on the
subject of parent involvement and student achievement and how they are deeply
connected. I presented this paper at the Public Education Network Conference
in Washington DC in 2004. You can read the paper on Parent Resources page.