Ms. Catherine Dinh
It would be inaccurate to say Ms. Dinh always wanted to be a teacher – after all, the job is incredibly tough and not exactly glamorized. Throughout high school, she has vivid memories of working hard and staying focused on her studies as she knew her academic success would bode well for her future. Ms. Dinh recalls loving to create and read stories at an earlier age. Close to her older sister, Ms. Dinh would make up elaborate stories using their dolls and coax her sister into reading under the covers of her bed after lights out. The idea of a good read could keep Ms. Dinh awake at all hours of the night.
As a proud Viking from Irvington High School, she attended Yale University. Having an opportunity to accept a teaching internship in inner-city Louisville, Kentucky, Ms. Dinh found herself falling in love teaching English as a Second Language to a Chinese immigrant. Her passion for literature then fueled her joy for what books could offer to young minds. She enjoyed making language concrete, visible, and fun for her students. In the months before graduating, she took steps toward a teaching credential and accept an position at part of a teaching cohort at the University of Michigan’s School of Education, earning her Masters in Teaching Secondary English. After enduring another freezing winter (and vowing never to take California sunshine for granted again!), she returned to her alma mater, Irvington High School where she now teaches 9th and 11th grade English.
Her teaching experience and enthusiasm for sharing literature with students will bode well for the successful writers she hopes to work with at Mill Creek Academy. She is eager to devote time reading multiple drafts of her students’ writing, as she values the importance of ensuring that student writing is given an opportunity for the revision process. With the small class sizes at Mill Creek Academy, she looks forward to tracking how each student grows in his/her specific areas of writing weakness. She is devoted to promoting student learning through constructive commentary and building relationships with students.
In her free time, Ms. Dinh loves to cook and eat with friends, read contemporary and classic books, write, and travel.