Meet Your EL Team

Name/Role: Jennifer Ramirez, EL Coordinator
Location: Irvine
Family: Married to Alex, and we have three kids, who are nine, seven, and four years old.
Best Vacation: Backpacking through Spain for a month.
Fun Fact: After backpacking through Spain for a month, I returned home, sold my car, resigned from LA Unified, and decided to return to live and teach in Madrid, Spain.

Name/Role: Melissa Clarke, EL Support
Location: Foothill Ranch (south Orange County)
Family/Pets: Married to my husband, Chris, for 10 years. We have a daughter, who is eight, and a son, who is 6. We have a cat named Jimmy, a hamster named Marshmallow, and a beta fish named Blue Fin.
Best Vacation: Trip to Washington, D.C., with my family when I was in high school.
Fun Fact: I earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, which is the highest award in Girl Scouting. 

Name/Role: Amri Gallardo, EL Support
Location: Chatsworth
Family/Pets: Husband, two daughters, and one turtle (did you know that red-eared slider turtles live 30 years?).
Best Vacation: When my husband goes south to Mexico to visit his family, I run farther away from them and rent a hotel room with my girls by the Ventura beaches.
Fun Fact: I used to be an aircraft mechanic before becoming a teacher.

Name/Role: Lorraine Kajikawa, EL Support
Location: Torrance
Family/Pets: Married to Gavin and have two daughters and two goldfish.
Best Vacation: When I went to Paris, France, for a milestone birthday!
Fun Fact: I love planting and caring for succulents!

Name/Role: Adrienne Lynch, EL Support
Location: Los Angeles 
Family/Pets: Gladys the rescue cat.
Best Vacation: Hiking dead volcanoes in Iceland. 
Fun Fact: Not a lot of people know I’m a true cowgirl at heart! Because I was independent studyed, I had the space and encouragement to explore extracurricular passions. I fell in love with equestrian care, and in high school, I finally got my own horse named Foxy! It was such a thrill to show her in local gymkhanas and rodeos. I had to sell Foxy when I moved to Los Angeles for college, but it is my dream to own and ride a horse again!