Stories & Experiences

Take a deeper dive into the education and experience offered through the programming of CRLP.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

-St. Augustine

Humans, as relational beings, are connected through story. Celebrating our educator colleagues through storytelling lifts up examples of growth, self-reflection, and improvement as well as examples of resilience and perseverance. The CRLP at UC San Diego invites you to tuck into our monthly vignettes featuring our regional CRLP Teacher Leaders in order to gain an understanding of the CRLP culture of encouragement. Furthermore, each interview will highlight and bring to life aspects of CRLP’s five core values: Literacy, Equity, Leadership, Community, and Inquiry.

Our hope is that each of these stories will activate your empathy and compassion, your curiosity, and your motivation as an educator. While each entry will vary slightly in focus, all will leave you with something to consider in terms of your own story: a new instructional strategy, an expanded view on literacy, or a fresh outlook on leadership from the classroom. How can the CRLP at UC San Diego support you in those lifelong and ongoing revisions? Read on and find out more. We’re so very glad you’re here.

“My involvement in the CRLP gave me the confidence, the community, the support, and that vital life-line I needed to strive for more, take risks, and reach for my goals and dreams as an educator.”

As an educator, I am known for my ability to cultivate meaningful connections with students, staff, and administrators. To me, the foundation of education lies in building a strong sense of community through authentic relationships. It is this philosophy that guides my work, and I owe it all to the California Reading and Literature Project […]

“My involvement in the CRLP gave me the confidence, the community, the support, and that vital life-line I needed to strive for more, take risks, and reach for my goals and dreams as an educator.” Read More »

“The number one reason I am a Teacher Leader with the project is because of its community.”

Artemisa Perucho-Green is an accomplished National Board Certified Teacher, whose current assignment at Valley Elementary in the Poway Unified School District is with fourth graders in a dual language strand. In her seventeen years of teaching, Artemisa has taught first, second, and fourth grade students. Artemisa is a part of the CRLP because of the

“The number one reason I am a Teacher Leader with the project is because of its community.” Read More »

“Kids want to read! They respond to being given a purpose for reading, a purpose for why they’re learning phonics, a purpose for learning.”

Thomas Courtney is a passionate advocate for education and champion for children’s literacy as a civil right. He teaches 5th grade at Chollas Elementary School in southeastern San Diego, home of many culturally and linguistically diverse students. He has taught students who live in disadvantaged areas for 26 years and has been a part of

“Kids want to read! They respond to being given a purpose for reading, a purpose for why they’re learning phonics, a purpose for learning.” Read More »

Finding Belonging & Connection

By Angela Censoplano I am a teacher. I am an author, a speaker, and an advocate for students and teachers. I am an educator. I have been educating underprivileged students living in low socio-economic communities for twenty-three years now. Advocating for the social and emotional aspects of learning in the classroom, and for teaching social

Finding Belonging & Connection Read More »