Some might say that I have skated through life, but I’ve learned a lot, and if you learn, you must teach. When I was 17, I thought I would grow up to teach skating. 
Currently, I blog while practicing my writing and photography skills. 
At 35 I finally achieved my life goal and began my 25th year teaching and consulting career in Tulare County California.
One of my former fifth-grade students, Stacy, now teaches history and another student, Heather, has a high school aged daughter who participated in Mock Trial, which I coordinated for the County. Several of my students and student classroom aides became teachers including Jaime Donate, at history teacher in Los Angeles, and Ernesto Hernandez, a fourth-grade teacher. How proud can a teacher get?
I taught a fourth-grade bilingual class at Castle Rock School in Woodlake, California. 
The last time I saw my student, Joel, he was getting ready to go to law school. I’ll never forget when he fell out of his seat laughing at the chapter in Sideways Stories from Wayside School about the student who was getting a tattoo.
I worked as Migrant Program Coordinator and create a program similar to Math Matters for teachers in rural schools, designed curriculum and training for home preschool educators in the Migrant MEES Program.
I ended my career, but not my life, as the History Consultant for Educational Resource Services at Tulare County Office of Education for nearly 11 years. (Thus the name TC History Gal) 
Students wait nervously before they present their case before an actual trial judge at the Tulare County Courthouse against a team from another Tulare County high school. 
Wonderful opportunities beyond my wildest expectations came my way during my career as a teacher and consultant. I retired in August 2012.
My Continuing Career in Education
Retirement does not mean leaving my former professional life entirely. For a short time after I served on the Executive Cabinet of California Council for the Social Studies, they employed me as their Executive Director. Today, a wonderful friend, Laurie Mosier, holds that position while I continue to volunteer for a local affiliate of the state organization, San Joaquin Valley Council for the Social Studies (SJVCSS). As a member of that board, I also manage the SJVCSS website and monitor the Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn accounts. Advocating for educators and providing resources for them remains a passion.
Pitch for Joining a Professional Organization
If you teach or like social studies please go to smile.amazon.com when you order from Amazon, and choose California Council for the Social Studies as your charity. Amazon will donate a portion of whatever your order. And if you teach social studies – Join your state and national councils – local councils are automatic, at least in California. I’ve made the most wonderful lifetime friends through my involvement with them.
Beyond Education
- Community involvement
- Board Member: Kiwanis of Woodlake, Woodlake Chamber of Commerce
- Author:
- Images of America Woodlake – a direct result of blogging.
- So You Think You Can Blog? – a direct result of blogging
- Other Published Blogs
Join me on FB LinkedIn, or Twitter.
In June an editor from Arcadia Publishing contacted me about writing a pictorial history book on the Tulare County town of Woodlake. I sent my final draft to them December 6th, and the book should hit the shelves in June 2015. All proceeds from this book will go to the Woodlake High School Foundation to fund scholarships to Woodlake students.
I participated in NaNoWriMo 2015, and submitted my first novel, Girls on Fire, some of which appears in draft form on this site as I learn the intricacies of novel-writing.
If you reached the end of this and are still interested in me, you can connect through Twitter @MarshaIngrao, or like my FB page TC History Gal Productions
you sound like the sort of teacher every parent wishes their child to be lucky enough to get
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Thanks. I enjoyed teaching.
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I love your enthusiasm for teaching! I taught for 11 years (Spanish) and loved every second! Some of my students now are Spanish teachers and a few are living abroad using their Spanish which warms my heart!
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Que bueno! A mi me gusta espanol. (I don’t know how to use the n symbol in a reply!!! I didn’t have much formal Spanish – one summer 4 week course and a 10 week course the second fall I taught my bilingual class, but I love the language. I don’t practice it as much as I used to when I worked for Migrant Education. One of my best teacher friends taught Spanish at the high school, and I brought my 4th graders over once a week, and the kids worked together on Spanish writing projects. The high school kids had better grammar, and my kids were native speakers. It was a great experiment.
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What a wonderful way to teach kids and to make them feel important! Love what you did! Bravo! Besitos xo
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Muchas gracias. I have a funny story. I was walking with my Spanish speaking neighbor, and she was telling me something, Then she kept saying, “Gracias, adios.” Or that’s what I heard. Finally I asked her why she kept telling me goodbye. She laughed and clearly pointed from herself to the sky – a dios.
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There are lots of funny stories like that! That’s why I love sharing our connections! 🙂 Love the giggle ~ gracias a ti!
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hahaha merci beaucoup!
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de rien!
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Depues cinco anos de estudiar franes, pienso que hablo espanol mas mejor de frances, pero no puedo hablar o escribir mucho en los dos linguajes. You can laugh at my terrible grammar, syntax etc, but it’s fun to see if I can even remember ANY vocabulary! Good thing I’m blogging in English!
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Mi padre hablo frances pero a mi no me gusta hablar en frances. Prefiero espanol. Vivi en Espana hace 20 anos. Hablas/escribes bien!
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Thanks for signing up and liking my posts. Congrats on your wonderful career- I agree teaching is a gift. I miss being in the classroom, but liked my work as a consultant and am now enjoying the flexibility of writing-and keep a toe in education via writing. You might be interested in checking out my other book- On the Trail of the Ancestors: A Black Cowboy’s Ride Across America– complete study guide on my website– http://www.lisakwinkler.com
The book engaged students in Newark, NJ..it might be useful to you or colleagues–
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What a great title. I want to read it already! What is your job as a consultant? Are you working for a private company or public school system. Do you know Anthony Fitzpatrick? He lives in NJ, and just started working for the state dept. of ed, but before that he worked for AIHE. He wrote Social Studies Can Be Spectacular. He has some wonderful instructional strategies.
So I’ll check out your book today! I look forward to getting better acquainted. 🙂
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There is nothing quite as invigorating as being around young people, is there? I love hearing about other teachers and the wonderful things they are doing in children’s lives.
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I agree, and I guess that’s why Amy sent me your link. 🙂
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I always thought that teaching, together with healing, are the only jobs worth doing to start with … there is nothing more rewarding than to nurture one to light of knowledge, and/or light of health!
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It all relates to light, my lantern friend, Daniela! We are to be the light of the world, as I understand our role. If I can light up someone’s life, even for just a second, then I have partially fulfilled my role! 🙂
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There are some children you will always remember and then there are the children who will always remember you! You’ve touched so many lives Marsha.
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And I hope always for the best for them. You are continuing to do so. Hope the holidays are good. When do you start your new position?
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Holidays are great – I like to think of it as practising for retirement. The new job starts when our new academic year begins, end of January.
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That’s what I thought! I hope you like it! You are soooooo brave! 🙂
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