Chelsea

Cristina Tobar

My name is Cristina Tobar and I have been teaching in the city of Chelsea, MA since my freshman year in college. I started out teaching Adult Literacy and Basic Ed at the Intergenerational Literacy Program (ILP). From there my heart was rooted in the city and I chose to pursue my Masters in a place that allowed me to stay in Chelsea (Boston University). While pursuing my MAT, I completed my student teaching at Chelsea High School and have been there since. I am currently completing my ninth full-time school year. My pathway into teaching was the traditional route. I studied my content area in undergrad (History/English double major) and then went directly into the MAT program.

I currently teach 20th Century American History and the law course in our interdisciplinary Law & Public Policy program. I have, however, taught everything from freshman World History to Colonial American History to AP Government. I’ve also taught sheltered ELL and Special Ed co-taught versions of American history for many years. Outside of the classroom, I have been a mentor for five years and am currently completing my first year as the Lead of the Mentor Program. This year I am responsible for working with a team of 13 mentors and helping them mentor 28 new teachers to our high school. Outside of Chelsea High School, I have continued to teach Adult ABE at the ILP for 13 years, taught an MTEL prep course, been a Stanford University Hollyhock Fellow, and worked with Harvard Graduate School of Ed’s new Teaching Fellowship program mentoring student-teachers.