Theresa Shaw, a recent addition to SCHS’s English department, was raised in Salinas, Calif. by her mother, grandparents and two uncles.

“It was a very full house,” Shaw said.

Her grandmother was a nurse, her grandfather was a retired Air Force sergeant working in the civil service, one uncle is a mechanic, and the other owned a comic book store. He is now currently a tax auditor for the state.

“My mom was and still is a scrub tech in labor and delivery,” she said.

Shaw’s family did not make much money; however, her grandma paid for her to go to college.

Shaw went to California State University, Monterey Bay for her bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish.

“In English I concentrated in teaching high school and in Spanish, I concentrated in Hispanic literature,” she said.

Later, Shaw earned a master’s degree in education at Brandman University.

Shaw had dreamed of teaching since high school, and being able to go to college gave her the opportunity to pursue her dreams.

“I started teaching in 2010 when I was 22,” she said.

Her first job was at King City High School, where she worked for two years and then went on to teach in Salinas at Everett Alvarez High School for the next four years.

“I have taught sophomores, juniors, and mixed ELD classes where I have all grade levels,” she said.

She worked as an AVID coordinator in Salinas for two years. Her job was to identify and mentor students in high school who have the desire to enter college. She wanted to teach AVID because she believes it gives opportunities for students to go to good colleges.

After teaching in Salinas, Shaw moved to Santa Clara. Shaw’s husband moved here for work, and she wanted to be next to him.

Shaw got married about a year ago at Disneyland because she wanted to tie her life with her husband’s in a childish, problem-free place.

“Family is really important for me,” Shaw said.

She didn’t want only her husband to bring money to their family, so she applied for a job at SCHS and got accepted. Now she works as an English 10, AVID 3 and SDAIE Eng 9-10 teacher.

She likes that students at SCHS are respectful and do their homework. Further, “the teachers are friendly, and I feel a strong sense of community in this school,” Shaw said.