Keisa Brown

Keisa Brown, who is a seventh- and eighth-grade Introduction to Spanish and AVID 8 teacher at University Heights Middle School in the Riverside Unified School District.

Ms. Brown has 20 years of teaching experience and shared that she is a teacher of students who come from adverse situations and are “at-promise.”

“Most [students] will never leave Riverside,” she said, and “I can relate on a personal level. Our classroom space is built on the empathetic, asset-based premise of safety and high expectations where no one if left behind. Failure is not an option because the ‘fail’ is our first attempt in learning.”

Ms. Brown creates a warm, Zen-like calm space with her class, decorated with college pennants and posters showing career options and employment earnings. Despite COVID, she continues to hold “family” reunions with her students and online checks for well-being. She also continues to deliver community building activities through distance learning and is passionate about equity, access, and culturally responsive pedagogy.