Chico Junior High Schooltitle

My name is Beth Burton. I was born and raised in Downey, California. Downey is a suburb of Los Angeles and is about 20 minutes from downtown LA. I come from a large family. One older brother and three younger sisters. I grew up with a love of History. I watched Jeopardy with my parents every night and devoured books. I had great teachers growing up and many of my immediate and extended family are current or former educators.

I graduated from Warren High School in 1993. While in high school I was involved in many clubs and competed in Basketball and Track and Field. I went to the California State meet in Track and Field my Junior and Senior years. I still hold the Shot Put and Discus records at Warren High.

I earned an Athletic Scholorship and went to the California State University, Northridge. While at Northrigde I earned a Bachelor of Arts in History. I was a Three-Time All American competing for the Matadors. My experience at Northridge allowed me to travel across the country visiting many historic sites and collecting many of the things that can be found in my classroom.

I moved to Chico in 1999 and began the Masters in Anthropology program at Chico State. After a few weeks in the program I decided that Anthropolgy wasn't for me and I moved into the Credential Program. I finished at Chico State and worked my way from Campus Supervisor to Student Teacher to Long Term Sub to Part Time Teacher and now I'm happily full time. I taught World and US History and ran the Opportunity Program at Bidwell Junior High School for five years before moving to Pleasant Valley. During the past 2 years at PV I have taught Economics, World History and now am overjoyed to be the Coordinator and Teacher of the AVID Program. I'm hoping to develop the program and attain model school status in the next few years.

During my time in Chico I've worked for C.A.R.D. in the After-school programs and Summer Camps and PV high school as the Throws coach.

I am currently the Throws Coach for Track and Field at Chico State. I have a talented squad that loves representing and competing for Chico. The Wildcat men and women won the 2011 CCAA championships, with Ashley Webster setting a new school record in the Hammer throw and finishing 11th at the National Championships in the Shot Put.

I love to spend time with my Two Pugs, Boone and Bowie. I love to read, play games, bike ride and travel. I've also started competing in the Scottish Highland Games.

If you can dream it, you can do it!

A life lived in fear is a life half lived