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UDCP student Erik Perez was recently honored with the California Science Teacher Association’s after being nominated for his work with ������’s .

Perez, who is in the College of Education’s third cohort of the  also graduated from the college with his BA in . After graduating from ������ in spring 2019, Perez plans to utilize his credentials to teach in either a general or special education classroom and “be an ambassador for inclusive practices.” Returning to the College of Education as a graduate student in the is also part of Perez’s long-term goals, as well as teaching at the university level. However, teaching in an elementary school setting remains important to Perez and he plans on maintaining that role throughout his career, “much like some of my inspirational capstone professors in my undergrad.” When asked what he hopes to inspire in this students as a teacher, Perez replied, “I want my students to learn to love challenges both academic and personal and overcome them by doing their very best. I hope to inspire my students with my humor and engage students by accessing their funds of knowledge. Most importantly, I want my students to discover, improve, accept, and love who they are and in the words of Dolly Parton, ‘find out who you are and do it on purpose.’”