Meet Janice Moore, WACSC Board Member
Janice Moore joined the Board in the fall of 2022. She is active on the membership committee and Academic WorldQuest, the WAC program that encourages high school students to become involved in world affairs.
She writes:
I was born in San Francisco, grew up in Burlingame, and attended Notre Dame High School in Belmont. As with all 100 girls in my graduating class, my focus was on preparing for college. In 1962, the areas open to women were nursing, social work and education. I chose education. At this time, most of the Catholic colleges were for boys only, so I decided on the University of Portland.
When I graduated, President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed for key elements of Kennedy’s legislative agenda. For me, a component of the Great Society was educational reform, with federal funding for low- income districts, including nine in Portland. So, at 21, I became a language arts teacher for seventh and eighth grades. To my dismay, most of my students had severe problems with reading. The task: to teach reading to students who would soon be entering high school.
In 1963 I married my college sweetheart, Greg Moore, and our son Steven was born. We travelled in our green Austin Healey, with baby Steven in a special seat. We had great fun.
Our next move was to Sacramento. We loved this community and decided this was the spot to raise our children. In 1968 our daughter Kristina was born.
Meanwhile, I obtained a teaching position in Galt, a farming town of 3,000 people south of the Sacramento. I taught eighth grade, and once again was faced with students who could not read grade-level material. A worthy challenge!
I realized I needed more education to learn the complex process of teaching a child to read. So, I completed my Master’s Degree in school administration and curriculum at Cal State, Sacramento. My passion and purpose were to teach all children to read and become successful learners.
In 1973 I transferred to The San Juan Unified School District in Sacramento. It was extremely progressive in its philosophy and practices, and I was feeling competent as a teacher and able to make a positive difference in the students’ lives. I became a mentor/teacher at a Staff Development School and worked with Stanford University in Project Read.
In 1980 I became an elementary school principal, and focused on curriculum growth, helping all students and teachers work for the common goals. Very satisfying!
I retired in 2000, and six years later moved to Santa Rosa to be closer to my two grandchildren. Also, I decided that I missed teaching, and opened Moore Learning Center in Skyhawk Village. Again, the emphasis was on helping students who were struggling with the public school system. I also became a coach/mentor for principals in the Santa Rosa City Schools.
Besides WACSC, I am involved with another worthy not-for-profit organization: Impact 100. Both do wonderful things in Sonoma County.
My life’s mission is to evolve and become my best self, and I find this comes from helping others, especially with my skills in education. I’m grateful that life is filled with the joy of having good friends and a loving family.