Kendra Din

Kendra Din

Making her start in California, Kendra has been teaching mathematics and physics in public

schools since 2004. She often changes what courses she teaches to keep herself motivated,

which she’ll be doing again at City­As­School. She likes to incorporate real­life and social justice

issues into her lessons, so students can relate the topics they’re learning to their own lives and

experiences. And she hopes that students will contribute to the learning process by bringing

internship challenges to class and asking real­world questions.

City­As­School caught her attention when she learned that it was a place for students looking

for something different than the typical school­day structure. She immediately felt a connection

to the school and only wishes that she’d had the opportunity to attend such a place when she

was a teenager. It is her true belief that hands­on learning and travel are more valuable than

learning from a textbook.

Kendra grew up in a small town on the border of Mexico called El Centro, California. She knew

she wanted to be a teacher since the age of five, but before attending college to do so, she

backpacked through Europe taking advantage of her youth. Then she bounced back and forth

between the East and West Coasts and settled for a while in Southern California eventually

earning her B.A. in Mathematics from San Diego State University. She quickly decided she

prefered New York, moved here in 2006, and earned her M.A. in Math Education from City

College soon after. Now she lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and travels the world with her

husband, Mike, whenever there’s a break in the school schedule. She’s visited at least 60

countries and won’t stop until she’s no longer able to travel.

FUN FACT: Kendra’s first job was selling watermelons on a street corner with her sister, Kristi,

when they were in elementary school.