Mrs. NeufeldHi! My name is Laurie-pat Neufeld and I am SO excited to be a part of your kiddo's school family! It's going to be a fun year full of lots of learning and new adventures and I can't wait to see what this year brings. First, I'm going to tell you a few things about me.
I was born in Maryland, and at age 4, we moved to England. I moved to Highland, CA when I was 7. I am the youngest of 4 girls. They are awesome! When I graduated from high school (San Gorgonio), I went to CSUSB for two years and transferred to Western Illinois University for my final two years. I majored in Communications and had my heart set on news broadcasting :) I interned at KTLA Channel 5 for 6 months, and quickly realized, it wasn't for me. I followed one of my sister's footsteps and decided on Education. I received my credential from the University of Redlands. I worked for San Bernardino City Unified School District for 11 years and taught grades 2-6. Every single year, each child grabbed a special place in my heart. I LOVE living in Yucaipa, and decided to make the move to teaching where I live. I was honored when I started here two years ago!! I am excited to watch your kids grow and blossom through the year. Being a teacher is where my heart is. I am married to my best friend, Ed, who is an engineer with San Bernardino County Fire. We have three of the most amazing kids (biased, I know). Our oldest, Hunter, who is 11 and in the 6th grade. Our middle son, Logan, who will be turning 10 in September is in 5th grade. Lastly, our baby girl Abigail, 6, who is in 1st grade! They are SO much fun and keep us on our toes at all times! I love them so much! I am SO excited to be a 5th grade teacher and for all your kiddo's to be a part of this AWESOME, all-star team we have lined up for 2017/2018! This is going to be a fantastic year!!! |
Phap Luu
I was born in Hue, Vietnam, but grew up in Orange County. I received my Bachelor's and Teaching Credential at Cal State Fullerton in 2011 and 2012. My wife, Breannda, introduced me to a little town called Yucaipa and I was able to join this amazing school that year.
Although it is my 7th year of teaching, I am just as passionate and excited about teaching than I have ever been! I have learned so much from my last four classes and I plan on continuing to sharpen my repertoire of teaching skills. At the end of the day, I want to make sure that I am the best teacher for my students so that they're able to learn and grow academically and personally. I am incredibly blessed and fortunate to have a position here at Inland Leaders Charter School. It is an understatement to state that this school really goes beyond the limits. Outside of the classroom, I am blessed to have a beautiful wife and a rambunctious daughter and a newborn son. We are stoked to have your kiddos this year and we promise to help every single student learn this year! |
Ms. Dawson
Hi, my name is Kim Dawson and I have been teaching for12 years. I have taught 4th, 5th and 6th grade and have loved every second of it. I have always wanted to help people, even when I was a child. These feelings carried into college where I majored in psychology. I was going to “cure the world.” I was a young 22 year old upon graduating with my bachelor's degree and learned really quickly that the “cure” for the world’s woes wasn’t going to come as quickly and as easily as I wanted. I worked in a non-profit organization for troubled kids right after college and I wasn’t prepared for how dark this world was. I was too young and didn’t have enough life experience to be able to keep my work and personal life separated. That line of where you can help and where you get so immersed that you can’t help was very difficult for me to find at that young age. I kept at it for a couple years, but eventually took a break to regroup. I moved into the business world of marketing for a while, fulfilling the creative side of my nature, but I always knew I would go back to working with kids. It’s who I am and I knew I still had more to give. Thirteen very fun and stimulating years later, my husband passed away and I had a 3 and 4 year old at home who needed me more than ever. During this time, I was so touched by how incredibly compassionate people can be. It reminded me of my prior life ambition to work with kids and led me to regroup yet again. I wanted to find something that would allow me to be a strong, supportive mother and fulfill my need to be a part of something bigger than me. Teaching was what I came up with. I put myself back through school and dug through the trenches to fulfill this goal. I never doubted my direction and teaching has made me a stronger and grounded person and this would include motherhood. My kids are grown now and both in college. I am very proud of both of them. When I was a young girl dreaming about what my life would look like, it didn’t have all the “twists and turns” that actually transpired in mine. However, I feel strongly that it has only given me an edge of understanding that helps me connect with people and definitely strengthens my abilities to connect with my kids. It has also shown me that moving outside our comfort zones allows us to find extraordinary things. My life has been a gift! . |
Ms. BenavidesHi, hello and bienvenidos! Outside the classroom they call me Amber Benavides, but inside Room 13 I am Darth Vader... (insert John Williams soundtrack)
I was born in Bakersfield, CA and moved to Mentone when I was 4, only speaking Spanish. I grew up in Redlands and was accepted into the University of California, Santa Barbara where I graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor's of Arts in Religious Studies and a minor in History. I wanted to be an archaeologist, but "settled" for teaching after attending the University of Redlands where I received my teaching credential in 2009. I started my teaching career in San Bernardino Unified, where I was a substitute teacher and resident substitute for five years. At the time, I wasn't sure if I was really going to join the workforce permanently, but after one of my most challenging years at Serrano Middle School, ILCS picked me up. This is now the beginning of my third year and it seems to be getting better every year. Outside of school, hiking, yoga, traveling and adventure are my life. I enjoy the feeling of walking down streets full of history and culture and the food? Well, that's my favorite part. I've been to Germany, Vancouver, Poland, the Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, Australia and South Korea. The list grows with every year and I can't wait to see what adventure I get to go on next. Our fifth grade team is truly the best team I've ever been on and we are all SO excited to have your little ones! Here's to another amazing year! |