With the school year barely started and the sweet smell of summer still lingering in the air, Cathedral Catholic students are back on campus and getting reacquainted with their friends and teachers.  For some students though, this is a year to meet and welcome new teachers.  One of these teachers is American Sign Language (ASL) teacher Mrs. Kathy Garcia.

Mrs. Garcia was born in Florida, and at the age of three, she and her family relocated to Charleston, South Carolina. After spending seven years in the historic city, her family once again decided to move. This move brought them to Alpine, California, where Mrs. Garcia attended elementary and middle school.

After graduating from middle school, Mrs. Garcia attended Granite Hills High School. During her high school years, she was exposed to her first bit of ASL when she met and befriended a deaf girl at her church. After graduating high school, she attended Grossmont College in La Mesa to further her career in Sign Language.

After spending some time familiarizing herself with the Signing world, she transferred to San Diego Mesa College, where she majored in ASL.  It was during her time at Mesa that she met and befriended Cathedral’s own ASL teacher Mrs. Sara Rhodes in an interpreting program.  The two remained close throughout their time at school and continued to talk even when in separate places.

During her time at Mesa College, Mrs. Garcia decided she wanted to become a teacher and transferred to Anderson University, a private Christian university near Indianapolis in Anderson, Indiana.

“Indiana seemed like a random place to go, but I was really drawn to its teaching program and Christian environment,”  Mrs. Garcia said.  After moving back to San Diego, Mrs. Garcia began teaching in the San Diego Unified School District, where she stayed for eleven years.

During her time as a teacher there, she and Mrs. Rhodes unknowingly taught together four different times. “I was walking down the hall of the school one day, and Mrs. Rhodes passed me in the hallway. We both kind of paused and laughed over the fact neither of us knew we would be working together,” said Mrs. Garcia.

When Mrs. Garcia is not teaching or interpreting, she enjoys spending time with her children. Her son Nicholas is four, and her daughter Claire is two. Both children know some Sign Language, but their parents are focusing more on knowledge of Spanish, since Mrs. Garcia’s husband is fluent in Spanish.

In their spare time, the Garcia’s like going to the park and spending time together as a family. “It’s my favorite thing to do on my days off,” Mrs. Garcia said.

This year Mrs. Garcia is looking forward to teaching full time as an ASL level-one teacher. She and Mrs. Rhodes will be sharing a classroom because Mrs. Rhodes is teaching part time to afford more time with her children.

ASL level two and three teacher Mr. Dano Kaufmann said, “Mrs. Garcia has a fun and outgoing personality.  She has been involved with her church now for many years and is a devoted mother and wife.  She has been a member of the signing community since 1993 and has interpreted since 1997.  Mrs. Garcia is also a technology trainer, and has countless hours of experience with such resources as Moodle, Turnitin, and Blackboard.  I look forward to a wonderful year working together!”

With a few weeks of teaching at Cathedral under her belt, Mrs. Garcia said she is looking forward to getting to know every one of her students, and is also looking forward to the great experiences and memories that working at Cathedral will bring.