Hi! My name is Kelsey Ochaba, and I am so excited to welcome you to 11th grade humanities this year. My love for literature and history runs deep. Despite being the girl in the back of the class who enjoyed reading rather than paying attention, I went on to study at San Diego State University (Go Aztecs!) where I studied English literature. I followed up my time at SDSU by earning my Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California (Fight On!) with an emphasis in fiction. I was then fortunate enough to spend the next few years working as an editor for a publishing company in Orange County, where I enjoyed watching my clients' books climb to the top of the Amazon Bestseller list. In 2014, following my company's move to Boston, I began working as a writing teacher, focusing on helping English Language Learners to tell their stories and create meaningful material to submit to the UC, private, and Ivy League school systems. I then went to work as the lead writer for a San Diego based marketing company where I spent the last couple of years, before heading to High Tech High Chula Vista in 2016 wherein I was a co-teacher for the 10th grade humanities team. I joined the North County family (Go Raptors!) in January 2017 where I was a co-teacher with Ms. M in the 12th grade wing. I am so excited to continue working with HTH and to start my fifth year with this amazing community, and my fourth year as an 11th grade Humanities teacher.
When not teaching, thinking about teaching, or spending time with other teachers, I enjoy reading and hiking, while getting to share my life with my husband, Dr. O (whom you'll all meet eventually), our dog, Cyrus (likewise), and Siamese cat, Nova Lovegood (probably never, but you'll see lots of pictures). Onward!