My journey with food and education has been anything but ordinary. For eight years, I worked as a prep and cook, discovering the magic of creating delicious meals that bring people together. After that, I had the privilege of serving with FoodCorps, where I taught cooking and gardening at schools like Rio Del Mar, Rio Rosales, Rio Plaza, and Rio Del Norte. These experiences helped me develop hands-on programs that make learning about food fun, engaging, and memorable. I’m excited to bring those skills to Ocean View and inspire students to explore the joys of healthy, sustainable eating. Most recently, I served as the Education and Outreach Coordinator for Get Hooked Seafood, where I helped connect schools and communities with fresh, sustainable seafood and shared the importance of supporting local fisheries and nutritious eating habits. Food has always been a bridge for me—connecting cultures, communities, and generations. Growing up, my love for food was sparked during family trips to the Yucatán, where I cooked traditional dishes with my family and enjoyed meals under the shade of a tamarind tree. These cherished memories remind me that food is more than nourishment; it’s a way to celebrate culture, build community, and share stories.

Cassandra grew up in Ventura and is a recent graduate from Cal State Channel Islands, earning a Bachelor's in Sociology. She joined VCF2S in 2023 with the CSUCI Service Learning FoodCorps Program. She enjoyed the experience and is now coordinating and teaching a Nutrition Education Program in Hueneme Elementary School District. She is very excited and passionate about contributing to her community by working with kids as well as bringing a positive, fun learning experience into their lives that they can enjoy and will brighten up each student's day. Her favorite lesson to teach is Harvest of the Month, when new vegetables and fruits are introduced into their world and gives them a healthy outlet to new things they might really enjoy. Working with children has always been an enjoyable time for Cassandra, knowing that she is giving back to the community she grew up in where these opportunities of spending time and planting in gardens were not always available. She expresses her love for the outdoors by going on local hikes and going to the beach in her free time. Cassandra enjoys where she lives and staying a part of her hometown, in addition she is able to do that by working with the kids throughout the Ventura County schools.

Michelle has a background in Environmental Horticulture emphasis in Nursery/ GreenhouseTechnologies and Landscape Contracting. She has experience with Ventura's Rincon-Vitova Insectary, breeding beneficial predatory insects and working with biological controls. At Rincon-Vitova Michelle also ran the farmers market booth at Ojai Community Farmers Market on Thursdays and participate in community events throughout Ventura County such as the Oxnard Insect Festival, events with the Rodale Institute, Rio School's Compost Tea Parties, and also the National Heirloom Expo hosted by Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. Michelle managed and helped run the Ojai Community Farmers Market that was held at the National Heirloom Expo in 2024. From there she partnered up with Food For Thought Ojai, a non-profit that provides garden-based education through Ojai Unified School District. Michelle then joined the Rio School District Farm to School program as a Garden and Nutrition Educator. Michelle has a passion for gardening, tending to her own large urban food forest in her backyard- where she practices permaculture, backyard orchard culture, has annual and perennial edible and medicinal crops, as well as growing California Natives to help support the Ecology. Michelle is passionate about growing school gardens with the youth in our community. She believes in caring for the soil and ecology so in return it can care for us.

Anna brings grant writing, program management, and policy analysis experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.  She has been working with local Farm to School programs since 2015 and founded the OUHSD Farm to School Program. She earned a Masters in Public Policy with an emphasis in Health Policy from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Anna holds two teaching credentials in Health Sciences and Agriculture. She is a certified Garden Educator from the Life Lab at UC Santa Cruz and has a Certification in Environmental Education from California's Association for Outdoor and Environmental Education.  She manages her family's small citrus orchard and is a 6th generation member of the Oxnard and Camarillo community.

Born and raised in Oxnard, California, Dominique is a nutrition educator guided by the belief that self-care and community care are deeply interconnected. Her background spans education, culinary arts, and agricultural work, with a focus on expanding access to nourishing food and practical life skills that support health and long term well being. Most recently, Dominique served as Community Kitchen Coordinator with Community Roots Garden in Oxnard, where she designed and led edible education programming using fresh, seasonal produce grown on site. Through hands on cooking, garden based learning, and food justice initiatives, she works to cultivate inclusive, dignified food systems rooted in accessibility, sustainability, and collective care. She has also been an educator with OUHSD since 2019, intentionally integrating the understanding of food as fuel for cognitive, emotional, and physical health into curriculum. Dominique holds a BA in Communication Studies from CSU Channel Islands, and a degree in Culinary Arts from the Institute of Culinary Education Los Angeles. While she trained in produce forward, farm-to-table restaurants throughout Ventura County, her most meaningful kitchen experiences began at home cooking alongside her grandmother. Carrying forward that legacy continues to shape her work today - keeping family recipes alive, sharing culinary knowledge with youth, and connecting food with health, culture, identity, and freedom.