Mrs. Pérez
Hello. My name is Cheryl Pérez. I am a Language Arts and Literature teacher at Indio Middle School in Indio, California about 20 miles east of Palm Springs.
As a child, I traveled all over the United States and lived in many interesting places. In 7th grade, I began taking Spanish and discovered that I had a knack for learning languages. Later, I studied German, French, and Portuguese also. When I was a junior in high school, I decided I wanted to become a teacher. I attended the University of California at Riverside for three years and received a double Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish and Chicano Studies in 1976. Then I spent another year studying and student teaching to earn my Teaching Credential. My teaching career began in Seattle, Washington -- a beautifully green place with lots of rain! In 1985, I moved to the Coachella Valley -- an equally beautiful place although very dry and hot. I have been teaching 2nd, 3rd, and 6th-8th grades in the Desert Sands Unified School District for the past 16 of my 25 years in education.
My husband, Norman, is a professor in the Fine Arts Department at the College of the Desert. He is a talented artist who works in the areas of watercolor painting, printmaking, drawing, and ceramics. In addition, he plays several instruments including the piano, guitar, and flute -- his favorite type of music being jazz. He devotes much time to photography and computers as well. Our daughter, Celina, age 19, lives in Brooklyn, New York. She works at a cool coffee place called Xando. When she's not working, she writes. Her goal is to become a screenwriter. 
Our son, Lorenzo, age 14, is in 9th grade at Cathedral City High School. He plays the alto saxophone in the Jazz Band and looks forward to participating in tennis later this year. 
This summer he had the opportunity to attend Jazz Camp at the University of Colorado, Boulder. My hobbies are photography, sewing, reading, swimming, and bowling. Most of all, however, I enjoy traveling. During summer vacation, my husband, son, and I took a six-week 6,300 mile trip throughout the western third of the U.S. and Canada. In August I spent a week in New York visiting my daughter. Please visit the Travel page and take a look at my photo souvenirs.
Much of my spare time is spent working on one of several computers I have in my classroom and at home. Through a 2½ year district computer grant training program I earned a Certificate of Technology in Curriculum. In addition, I have taken computer classes online through the College of the Desert where I learned how to write HTML and build web pages like this one. I also build and maintain web sites for other people. Check this one out: Polo America. Recently, I received instruction in digital video. This year, I am participating in the Intel Teach to the Future program and a district Best Practices in Technology project that is currently providing my classroom with 20 networked laptop computers.
I enjoy eating many different types of food such as Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Italian, and Mexican. Here I am eating one of my favorites -- Vietnamese soup called "pho". This dish is barbequed pork with vermicelli noodles and egg rolls.
I love spending time outdoors every season of the year. This was a beautiful, snow-covered day in Idyllwild.