Long, long, ago, back in the late 90s, there was a young LBUSD teacher looking to make a difference in the world.  She took a brave step, and became...

..a 4/5 literacy coach, which quickly turned into a K-5 literacy coach at Colin Powell Academy.   She had recently received her National Board certification, and was training teachers in the pre-certification process in LBUSD and at CSU Dominguez Hills.

She still wanted to do more, so she started teaching adjunct courses at CSULB and CSUDH in the undergraduate and graduate Teacher Education programs, all while juggling teaching and coaching in LBUSD.  She was selected to be a part of content standard committees, textbook adoption committees, and leadership positions each year.

While attending UCLA for a doctorate in Educational Leadership, Debi Bober planned her wedding, got married, and pregnant.  She had her first son 10 days after graduating and receiving the UCLA Dissertation Award for her research in teacher effectiveness.

Suddenly, she found herself the mother of a child with a disability, a child with autism.  As she learned how to nurture and raise a child with special needs, she filled her teaching toolbox with every strategy she could find for improving the experience of learning for all children, especially those who are highest needs and disadvantaged in LBUSD.

She realized that not every child had an advantage, and it is through effective teaching and learning that we reach and pull children up and over the obstacles that bear down on them.  She became an advocate for highest need students, especially children with special needs and disadvantaged homes.