Melia Hong, Second Grade, Room 6

Melia Hong is the offspring of Berkeley public schools. She attended Oxford Elementary, Longfellow/King middle schools and Berkeley High. Her mother was a long-time principal at Emerson Elementary, and, once she became a teacher, Ms. Hong knew she wanted to teach in the Berkeley schools. “There was no district that had the kind of diversity of Berkeley. That was a huge part of my decision to come back,’’ she said. “I liked it when I grew up and I wanted that.’’ She comes from a rich and diverse family tradition, too. She is part Korean, and her father was raised in Hawaii. Ms. Hong goes to the islands to visit family each summer and performs with traditional Hawaiian dance groups.

Ms. Hong attended the University of California – Los Angeles where she double majored in mass communication and child psychology. She worked a desk job at Pacific Bell after college, but “the days felt too long.” So she worked at an afterschool program, then taught 8th grade English at Oakland Military Academy for a year. She got her teaching credential at St. Mary’s College, in Orinda, and did a student teaching stint at her alma mater, Oxford Elementary. Her next stop as a teacher in training was John Muir. “Right here in this room,’’ she says with a smile. When one of the 1st grade teachers became ill, Ms. Hong took over and finished the year. She was thrilled when she was offered a job teaching 2nd grade in 2004. “The staff is amazing,’’ she says. “We communicate so much.’’

And nope, she doesn’t miss her desk job. “I like how much I enjoy my day. I like spending time with the kids. They change so much in one year.’’