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Tanya Finley, Fifth Grade
B.A., University of Oregon
M.A., Pacific University, Education
Tanya Finley was born in warm and sunny Mountain View, CA but spent most of her childhood years in the arctic climes of Minnesota. When Tanya wasn’t wiping the icicles out of her eyelashes, she enjoyed cross-country running, track, soccer, swimming, and theater. Shortly after high school, Tanya quickly moved back to the comparative warmth of the west coast, where she attended the University of Oregon in Eugene. She soon realized that, like her grandfather, education was her calling and attended Pacific University, where she got her Master’s degree in Education.
After obtaining her degree, Tanya also realized that perhaps the constant downpour of rain wasn’t for her and immediately started searching for jobs in California. Luckily, she found a job in San Francisco, and immediately fell in love with the Bay Area. She taught 4th and 5th grades at the Discovery Center School in San Francisco, where she had the freedom to develop curriculum with a wonderful teaching partner. When Discovery Center School was closed down, she went to Presidio Hill School, where she taught 3rd grade for four years. Again, she was able to develop the curriculum and create many project-based units. She jumped at the chance to teach 6th grade Humanities at PHS for the next two years.
Tanya has an incredible two year old named Azha, whose birth prompted her move to Berkeley. Dave, her husband, still works in San Francisco, but doesn’t mind the BART commute as much as Tanya did! The whole family loves bike riding together on sunny East Bay weekends, and Tanya enjoys running, both with Azha in a jog stroller and by herself. She just completed a 216.6 mile relay as a member of a 6 person ultra-team this summer, but has no plans for the next race. Tanya also enjoys vegetarian cooking and a wide range of other activities.