Ruth Ellis

What’s your education background?

Do you want to know what schools I went to or what my degrees are? I’ll answer both and you can use whatever you like. I received my BA in English and my first teaching credential (also English) from Concordia University, Irvine. I received my MLIS (that’s a master’s degree of Library and Information Science) and my library teaching credential from San Jose State University. 

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?

That everybody is going through a storm, about to go into a storm, or coming out of a storm, so we need to treat each other with grace and kindness. 

What was the moment that you decided to teach?

When I was 20, the internship program that I was in the middle of shut down due to a recession, and I realized that wasn’t what I wanted to do anyway.

What is the main goal you have for your students and how will you try and accomplish them?

My main goal that I have for students is that they find their interests and passions that will keep them excited and learning and living life. Everyone is always growing and changing, though, so that task is never fully done. The best I can do to help them while they search is make sure students have the access to the tools and information that will help them explore and provide support in using that access.