Meet Emily
Emily Zacarias is a teacher, mom, and advocate for students.
My name is Emily Zacarias and I am running for the Goleta Union School Board (District 3). I am a teacher, parent and advocate.
I have taught special education since 2008 for the Los Angeles Unified, Santa Barbara Unified, Goleta Union School districts, and currently work for the Santa Barbara County Education Office teaching students with unique learning challenges. I am also a parent to two young daughters, 3 and 7 years old, both in the Goleta School District. My husband Jerry works in the music industry and is a talented local musician. I am a graduate of UCSB–both for undergraduate and graduate school–with 2 degrees in Psychology.
One of the main reasons why I am running for our local school board stems from our experience with the pandemic. While my daughter struggled with remote learning in Kindergarten, and my husband and I tried our hardest to pick up the slack on her schooling, we saw up close all the various elements that are necessary for a quality education. Once we emerged from the scariest part of the pandemic, I had time to reflect on how much I wanted to be more involved with her education, and how important a school community really is.
I look forward to the opportunity to serve–to hear from all stakeholders: students, teachers, school staff and families their concerns, no matter how big or small.