Denise Alvarez was nominated by Marina McElhenie for Class Acts. McElhenie said Alvarez helped her son find his confidence. She teaches the students with the same drive year after year and presents the information in a fun way.
Name: Denise Alvarez
Age: 54
City of residence: Atwater
Occupation: Kindergarten teacher at Elmer Wood Elementary in Atwater
Family: Divorced, daughter, stepdaughter, stepson, adopted daughter and seven grandchildren
Background: After getting an associate degree, I found the teaching field saturated with people, men with Ph.D.s were putting tires on vehicles at the local GM plant because their were no teaching positions available. I decided to enter the business world, becoming an assistant manager at Payless Drug store and then a purchasing manager for an electronics company. While doing so, I married, becoming an instant mom and then had a daughter of my own. After leaving the business world, I wanted to pursue my love of teaching but I was only qualified to teach preschoolers. So I became a preschool teacher while going to school at night to get my bachelor’s and teaching credential.
Teaching experience: Twelve years as a Head Start/State Preschool teacher and 13 years as a kindergarten teacher. I have also tutored math for second-and third-graders.
Why did you get into teaching? I have always wanted to be a teacher since I can remember. My mom has said that I would gather my siblings and friends and “play school” with me as the teacher. I also always helped my brothers and sisters with their homework and my youngest sister, Lisa, claims that I was the one who taught her how to read. My dad was a science teacher at Evergreen Valley Junior College in San Jose, so I guess it is in my blood.
What is your favorite thing about being a teacher? I love seeing the sparkle in the kindergartners’ eyes and hear the excitement in their voices when they have finally mastered a skill, such as tying their shoes or understand a concept that they have been working on for a while. I also love running into past students at the store and hearing how they are doing and what they have accomplished.
What is the most challenging part of your job? Introducing students and parents to the education world with its expectations and requirements. Sometimes, we are the first teacher they meet and this is their first education experience. They learn that our funding depends on the students’ school attendance, even partial attendance counts. Test scores depend on academic knowledge as well as a good breakfast and a good night’s sleep. Academic success depends on parent involvement, which includes supervising homework completed by the student after school and not during breakfast, limiting TV, computer and video games and daily reading.
Favorite teaching tool or activity in the classroom: I love to read to my students. These days we very rarely get a chance to read a story for enjoyment. With the high state and federal standards, every opportunity is utilized as a teaching tool or mini-lesson, so stories are dissected from their very first introduction. As a response to this, when we return from our weekly scheduled library time, I select the library books from two students to read just for the enjoyment of reading. When I do this you can hear a pin drop; they are so engrossed. Some times that is the only time during the week that they are quiet. And even my parent volunteers have stopped to listen.
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