TEACHER'S PROFILE: SANDRA CARDEN

Garden Coordinator, Office of Service Learning at American School of Dubai

- SANDRA CARDEN

How did you get into this career?

I double-majored in Education and International Studies at Gonzaga University. Honestly speaking, being a teacher was my back-up plan. I wanted to work with an NGO and make the world a better place. I worked for five years at a homeless shelter for pregnant and parenting teens - as a transitional living coordinator - teaching girls the skills they needed to be a parent. I then joined the Peace Corps Cameroon and taught adults and children English, which was one of the most challenging jobs I’ve ever had. The class sizes were large, with nearly 120 students per class, and the only “resource” was a box of chalk. It was the first time in my life that I was faced with such a large scale of inequity in education, and it felt hopeless. It was also during this time that I stumbled upon the phenomena of international schools.