Jorge Lopez

Jorge is a Social Studies teacher. He has been teaching since 2002 at Roosevelt High School. Jorge is a graduate of UCLA’s Teacher Education Program and Principal Leadership Institute. He has taught multiple elective courses in ethnic studies and cultural studies that address youth, culture, critical media literacy, and social justice. He has extensive professional development experience with the following organizations: Facing History and Ourselves, Teacher’s Curriculum Institute, and Los Angeles Education Partnership. He is currently the advisor for the students' Art Club, and Taking Action Club. Jorge is a National Board certified teacher, and a Fulbright Scholar. He recently co-authored the book Critical Media Pedagogy: Teaching for Achievement in City Schools with Dr. Ernest Morrell, which documents a lot of the work supported by TIIP grant.

Roxana Dueñas

Roxana is a Social Studies teacher who has been teaching for 5 years. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with dual Bachelors in Chicana/o Studies and Women’s Studies. During that time, she took graduate level courses in education under Professor Dr. Tara Yosso. After graduating from UCLA’s Teacher Education Program with a Masters in Education and a single-subject credential (and BCLAD), she has worked at Garfield High School as well as Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles. Her professional development experience includes: LAEP’s Teacher Training Center, where teachers learn how to develop interdisciplinary units and project-based learning curriculum, and The Teacher’s Curriculum Institute for History Alive! She has taught World and US History (Honors and Advanced Placement) and Government/Economics as well.

Gene K. Dean

Gene is an English Language Arts teacher who has taught for 7 years at Roosevelt High School. He attended Occidental College, where he earned a Bachelor in the Arts in Film Production, with a minor in English and Comparative Literary Studies. Shortly after graduating, Gene was hired as a tutor under a Project GEAR UP grant based out of Cal State Los Angeles. He worked as a tutor and did his student teaching at Belvedere Middle School, following a group of students from 6th grade to 9th grade, when they started attending Theodore Roosevelt High School. After earning his teaching credential at CSULA, he was hired as a Special Education ELA teacher for the 1st year, and then transitioned to general education the following year. He has taught every grade level, except for seniors, and just recently took over the Journalism class, which puts out the school newspaper and blog.

Aleida Perez

Aleida is a Math teacher who is has been teaching for 3 years. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Bachelors in Spanish and dual minor in Math and Education: Teacher Preparation Track. She later graduated from UCLA’s Teacher Education Program. Aleida is also the club sponsor for Dreamers Club, a support group on campus that provides information and resources for undocumented students and is also AVID coordinator.  Her professional development experience includes a weekend retreat with LAEP with her small school team members on interdisciplinary curricular development and Project-Based Learning. She has also participated in TI calculator technology training.