Robin Goldman

Robin Goldman almost seems to have been destined to teach at John Muir Elementary. She majored in biology and minored in chemistry at Vermont’s Castleton College before heading west with plans to pursue graduate studies in plant biology at UC Davis. But she changed her mind after a stint as a plant virologist and headed to Santa Cruz where she led backpacking trips for a summer. A job with AmeriCorps brought her to Berkeley where she taught high school kids to start a flower design business and designed the garden at Rosa Parks Elementary School. That project led to a position as the school’s first garden coordinator and the inspiration for her next career choice. Ms Goldman got her teaching credential at Mills College and came to John Muir as a kindergarten teacher in 2001. Two years later she was pink slipped and transferred to Thousand Oaks Elementary, where she taught for a year before winning a return trip to John Muir as a first grade teacher.

Her biology background is evident in the classroom, where her first graders learn about ocean, forest and polar ecosystems, and a child is assigned to tend the plants each day. She uses the school garden and the natural environment of the campus creek as an extension of her classroom. In the spring of 2005, Ms. Goldman expects to finish her Master’s Degree in Education at Mills College, focusing on the relationship between the natural world and students’ learning experiences. With its edible garden and newly-restored creek, she considers John Muir an ideal place to pursue her pet projects. “Not to mention,’’ she added, “that it’s a beautiful place.’’