KARINA

KARINA is a full time Earth Science Regents teacher in Long Island. She is a New York State certified teacher with a license in secondary education, for students in grades 5 – 12. Her specialty is in working with top-notch, high performing students to prepare them early on for the Earth Science Regents. By helping them get “ahead of schedule,” Karina’s students can complete the science requirements needed to obtain an advanced Regents Diploma by 10th grade. These pupils can then move on to AP Biology, AP Chemistry, and AP Physics before graduation. Karina currently teaches full-time at a public school on Long Island. We are proud to add that Karina is the only teacher in Nassau County who teaches Regents Earth Science to 7th graders, who also all take the New York state Earth Science Regents exam in June. In 2018, Karina had a 100% passing rate for her students and over 75% of her students achieve Regents mastery, with a grade of 85 or better, on the Earth Science Regents. Karina received her bachelor’s degree from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education and holds a master’s degree in Adolescent Education from Dowling College. Karina is currently working on her second master’s degree in Leadership and Administration. In the summer of 2017, Karina successfully completed the Greentree Foundation Teacher’s Ecology Workshop for middle school teachers; a year-long program that provided her with knowledge and techniques to better teach Long Island students about the natural world. Every summer, Karina attends New York State Museum’s Annual Earth Science Teacher workshop; where she is immersed in geology and paleontology and expands her knowledge of New York specific topics and collects rocks, fossils and minerals for her classroom. In addition to teaching, Karina is one of the select few writers of Earth Science curriculum. In the spring of 2017, Karina was asked by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Nassau County (Nassau BOCES), the largest BOCES in New York State which serves 56 school districts in Nassau County, to write the Earth Science curriculum for NYLearns.org, a dynamic online platform management and standards-based system whose mission is to enhance public education and the opportunities available to students of all ages and abilities by providing access to innovative and cost-effective services. In the summer of 2018, Karina worked full-time as a Curriculum Specialist Liaison for Nassau BOCES and coached summer school future Earth Science teachers in Nassau County. Both a teacher and a trainer, Karina as a perfect fit to prepare Kweller Prep students for the upcoming Regents exam. Karina is fluent in Spanish and has also tutored students for ten years in Spanish, Algebra, and Geometry. Karina is a longtime close friend of Frances Kweller. Karina and Frances share a 20-year friendship since they were both classmates at New York University’s Steinhardt’s School of Education. In her free time, Karina enjoys practicing yoga weekly, hiking seasonally, and spending quality-time daily with her 10-year old daughter, Lily.