Ina

Ina's Story: An Annotated Biography

Ina's Story is a work in progress. I will add a bit each day or two, so that you can learn more about me, about my family, about my experience as a parent and teacher and professional, about why I want to help our children and our community by serving on the Santa Clara Unified School District Board, and about how I can help the Board with its mission to "narrow the gap while raising the bar." My goal here is to share with you enough about who I am, why I want to "give back" to our community as a School Board Trustee, what I hope to accomplish for you in that role, and why I know I can make a meaningful difference, so that you will find this not only interesting and enjoyable to read, but also compelling in your decision to elect me to serve. Ina

I was born in Brooklyn, NY on May 29, 1947, to parents who instilled in me a love of learning and a realization that the key to happiness and success in our society is a great education. Throughout my life I have learned, over and over again, that the only way to keep the American Dream alive is to instill in our kids a love of learning and to provide them with access to a great public education. So, I will begin my story at the beginning, and tell you about how my parents "lived" this philosophy so that I could rise from their poverty and fulfill that Dream.

My passion for serving on the SCUSD Board is fueled by my determination that all the children in our community will get the kind of education that will enable them, too, to fulfill the American Dream.

My father, an immigrant from Russia, could not become a doctor because that would not have left enough money for his younger brother to have a career, so they both became pharmacists. He worked 6 days a week and every 3rd or 4th Sunday, from 7 or 8 AM until 9 or 10 at night, in his tiny corner drug store in ethnically diverse Coney Island. He was known for his caring and ethical business dealings, and was so loved by the community that his store was spared during riots in the 1960's that damaged or destroyed most of the other stores in his area. My interests in medicine, business, and community volunteer work developed as I helped in in the store as a youngster.

One of my goals is to increase opportunities for our children to interact with local businesspeople and professionals, so that they can get a real sense of the rewards that result from success in school.

My mother was the eldest of 7 children in family which, though poor, made sure all the children studied hard, so that each of my aunts and uncles skipped at least one grade in school. She had to leave college to go to work to help her family, and lived her professional aspirations through me, her only child. Mom was employed as the Head Secretary at Public School 188 in Coney Island for as far back as I can remembers. She made sure that I did my homework and got good grades, took me on long subway rides to private lessons in ballet, drama and singing, and had violin and piano teachers come to our home. When I was a Junior in High School, she arranged for me to take an SAT Prep Course from a man named Stanley H. Kaplan, who would later become known as the guru of "standardized test-manship." I later worked for Mr. Kaplan and for his competition, and have continued over the ensuing 40 years to privately mentor students preparing for SAT, LSAT, GMAT and, more recently, the California Bar's examinations, and continue to maintain a fond friendship with Mr. Kaplan.

My experience working professionally as a mentor/tutor and classroom teacher in standardized test preparation provides me with valuable insights that will help our District improve its Academic Performance Index (API) and other test scores.

My parents scrimped, saved, and sacrificed so that I could attend Brooklyn Ethical Culture School, a private elementary school that was popular with Jewish families for its high academic reputation and its emphasis on tolerance of all cultures. I had my first experience meeting non-Jewish classmates when I entered Hunter College High School, a NY public school for intellectually gifted girls (now Hunter is coed). I then attended Cornell University, studying in one of its NY State Colleges (Agriculture) as a NY State Regents College Scholar, and completed a double major in Biochemistry and Ecology-and-Evolution. I remember choosing Biochemistry because it was the most difficult science major at the Agriculture school, and then added the Ecology-and-Evolution major because of my interest in animal behavior and nature. These have continued to be passions of mine, and led me to my work with The Gorilla Foundation and my support of National Wildlife Foundation, World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, Ocean Conservancy, and other important organizations.

Our schools must teach our children the importance of preserving our resources, respecting our environment, and preserving our planet.

My involvement in volunteerism began when I was a child. I fondly remember "helping" the classroom teachers, who were my mom's friends at PS 188, teach their kindergarten and first grade classes during the weeks between the start of their school year and mine. In High School, I volunteered in a peer mentorship program at the Lexington School for the Deaf, and one summer I worked with blind peers preparing for college. I was so impassioned that I learned the sign alphabet and Braille, and borrowed a Braille typewriter so that I could correspond with my friends in their own style.

Our children, from Elementary through High School, need enrichment opportunities that provide the gratification which comes from helping others, through Volunteerism.

Although I now realize that I was learning disabled from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), this condition did not become known in the medical community until after I had graduated college. I learned from personal experience what it is like to have a learning disability in the context of a high intellect, how to self-accommodate academically for this handicap, and how it can interfere with peer and family relationships. While I was earning my Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, both of my parents died of cancer. Also, I found that I could not succeed in that field due to the organizational writing requirements of grant proposals and research papers (an ADHD problem), and so went to medical school, so that I could succeed in a career in which I could help others. I got into UCSF Medical School off the waiting list, and my husband had already agreed to do a Residency in Social and Community Medicine in New York, so for my first year of med school we were separated by over 3,000 miles. My recognition of the importance of having a meaningful career made it inconceivable that I would give up medical school in order to enjoy marital bliss that year.

Our District must instill in our children a realization that knowledge is power, and a willingness to make personal sacrifices when necessary to achieve academic advancement.

The year I started UCSF, they had just done away with their 3-year MD program, but I and two other students got the school to agree to let us work through the summers and finish in 33 months. Now that I was in an academic environment that did not challenge my ADHD (which I had yet to discover), I was able to get Honors in almost every course in which it was offered and get elected as a Junior to Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society. I also made time to help develop and teach college-level standardized test prep courses in Chemistry and to volunteer at a free clinic in Bakersfield. Though my Internal Medicine Internship and Residency and my Pulmonary Medicine Fellowship at Stanford were at a time when women who got pregnant during their training were chastised, and there was no such thing as "maternity leave" for house-staff, I had both of my children during those years, Charles in 1977 and Rachel in 1981, setting a successful precedent for women who came after me in the years that followed. During that time we also came back to our Jewish roots, joined Congregation Beth Am, and became more active in Temple affairs as our children grew older, including singing in the Choir.

Our District must always, through its words and deeds, show respect for all the diverse religions, ethnicities, and lifestyles that enrich our community.

We began our children in private schools because they were ready for kindergarten a year earlier than the public schools would permit entry. Eventually, both kids transferred to and graduated from public schools, Charles from Mountain View High and Rachel from Los Altos High. We learned about ADHD when Charles was in Kindergarten, and then discovered that Rachel was afflicted as well. Both children's special needs were challenging to meet, because they involved social as well as learning problems, and because both were highly gifted as well as ADHD-disabled. We had to pay tens of thousands of dollars for Charles to attend a special school in the sixth and Rachel in the 10th grades, experienced the great stress of dealing with IEP planning and implementation at a variety of schools, and involved our kids in programs like GATE, EPGY, Middle College, etc., to meet their academic needs.

All of our children are entitled to an education that best meets their academic and learning needs, and enables the greatest academic advancement within each child's talents and abilities.

More to follow...