With the end of summer and the start of the school year, new faces have popped up on the Arcadia High School (AHS) campus. No, not just the new freshmen, but staff too. Amongst the new staff joining AHS is Ms. Pearl Lee, a Special Education (SPED) teacher.

Ms. Lee spent the first part of her time in the workforce as a 401k administrator and advisor, helping people and companies establish a retirement plan in a “boring office job” setting. Through volunteering to tutor kids, she rediscovered her love for school, kids, and most importantly, education. With her mind set on a career path in teaching, Ms. Lee decided to study at the University of California, Santa Barbara, getting her master’s degree in education and her teaching credential.

While working with SPED students, Ms. Lee likes to break down the information into small and digestible pieces. Using this strategy, she can make sure her students understand the material while she monitors their progress in the class. In addition to this, Ms. Lee makes sure to include engaging elements into her lessons like community circles to get to know her students better. Her goal is to make “the kids feel comfortable and safe about sharing about themselves.”

Of course teaching also comes with its struggles. Ms. Lee says that managing all her classes and individualized education meetings is the hardest part for her. Still all of this is made worth it by the rewarding moments she has with her students. She expresses that the moments that stood out most to her are when her students learned how to read. She said that in her five years teaching English to SPED students, most students “came to [her] not even knowing their alphabet,” and seeing them progress throughout the year was fulfilling. 

Outside of school, one of Ms. Lee’s favorite hobbies is travelling. She takes a solo trip every year, visiting a variety of countries including Vietnam, Poland, Australia, and Cambodia. In addition to this, she emphasized how she enjoys taking care of her home of five years. From renovating and personal DIY’s to just cleaning up and organizing, she does it all, even saying that if she wasn’t a teacher she would be a “professional organizer like Marie Kondo” and feels like she could possibly do a better job than Kondo.

As a teacher, Ms. Lee hopes to provide an environment for students to enjoy learning and find their passion. We hope to give her a warm welcome to AHS and see her bloom throughout the school year as a teacher alongside her students.