Lara Rankin's Biography
After graduating from University of California, San Diego with a degree in Sociology and Photography, Ms. Rankin moved to Roatan, Honduras to experience the island life. Here, she came across a school of young bilingual children that offered to teach her about the world. Having recent experience working with students with special needs, Ms. Rankin began to teach 2nd, 6th, 10th, and 11th grades in Music, Art, Computer, Health, and English. She returned to the States in order to complete her teacher training, and after a year working in the dairy farms of Vermont and in a local middle school, Ms. Rankin migrated to California to complete her credentials at CSUMB. After a year at Aptos High and five years teaching at Cypress, she spent a school year as a Fulbright exchange teacher in Budapest, Hungary from 2012-2013. She is happy to be back at Cypress to continue to engage with the creativity and enthusiasm of the students here, teaching English 9, English 11, Digital Photography, and AP Language and Literature.
professional associations
- Adobe Youth Voices & Krause Center for innovation Adobe Institute
- CATE (California Association of Teachers of English) - presenter
- NCTE (National Council for Teachers of English)
- California League of Schools
- ISL Collective (Internet Second Language Collective)
- Fulbright Exchange Teacher & Fulbright Alumni Association
- Digital Connections Project, Santa Cruz County
- WASC Committee Member
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Teacher Institute Alumni
- UCCI (University of California Curriculum Institute) - Designing the American Dream course
- AP Language Certified
- Qi Gong Teacher Certified (Lee Holden Institute)