Anteaters in Education Alumni Chapter
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Thomas Arntson ’95
Member at Large Thomas “Tom” Arntson is an elementary school teacher at Country Hills Elementary (CA Distinguished School ’23) and served as a member of the Teacher's Union Bargaining Team from 2014-2022. He earned his teaching credential from UCI in 1995. In 1998, he took a sabbatical to teach K-12 English in Madrid, Spain. Tom is a passionate teacher and enjoys trying new theories on instruction, assessment and student learning. From the beginning of his career, he has always said, “Make school engaging and fun, and kids will want to come!” Tom piloted and implemented Minecraft Education in the Brea Olinda Unified School District giving students the opportunity to demonstrate a variety of intelligence. He also collaborated on a virtual reality project that was shared with the United Nations called "Sustainable Global Goals." This project challenged students to solve 17 problems developing governments are struggling with. Tom is also a Kahoot! Ambassador with more than 40 standards-based content assessments in science, history and geography with more than 7 million players. He is married to an amazing wife and has two wonderful children. In his free time, he teaches robotics and ukelele, and he enjoys traveling to faraway countries to surf, eat and experience new cultures. |
Alvaro Brito ’09
Treasurer Alvaro Brito has 10 years of experience as a teacher, site coordinator, and specialist. He graduated from UCI with a B.A. in psychology with a minor in education. He earned a master’s degree in teaching from USC and a master’s degree in educational technology from Cal State Fullerton. He is currently enrolled in an educational doctorate degree program in educational technology at Boise State. Alvaro currently serves as a 21st-century learning specialist at Compton Unified School District. He oversees the district Innovation Labs, the FIRST LEGO Robotics Programs and STEAM events, serves as the General Manager for the growing middle school and high school esports program, and is a leader in supporting teachers in 21st-century teaching and learning. Alvaro was awarded the Compton Unified Teacher of the Year Award for the 2020-2021 school year for his remote teaching and innovation leadership. Alvaro is an agent of change and is committed to supporting the local communities he grew up in through equity and social justice. |
Tracy Carmichael ’03, ’13
President Dr. Tracy Carmichael currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer at Long Beach City College. Her career started in data management and evaluation and later transitioned to strategic planning and communications. Prior to her role at LBCC, she spent 15 years working with educational nonprofits focused on educational youth programming within historically underserved communities across the state. Dr. Carmichael is skilled in strategic planning, research design, program evaluation, fund development, and public speaking. She holds a B.A. in criminology from UCI, an M.A. in educational research from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in education from UCI. |
Megumi Cramer ’16
Member at Large Megumi Cramer graduated from UC Irvine in 2016 with a B.A. in education sciences and sociology. Megumi began her special education teaching at a high school in South Los Angeles as a Teach for America corps member in 2017. She obtained her master’s in education at Loyola Marymount University in 2019 and was a special education coordinator at a middle school in South LA. Currently, Megumi is the director of student support at Nevada Prep Charter School in Las Vegas. As a DACAmented educator, she serves as DACA Advisory Board Member in Teach for America. |
Belinda Espinoza ’05
Communications Chair Belinda Espinoza is an enrollment and marketing coordinator at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. She worked in the field of education for more than 20 years in various roles and worked in case management for three years. She graduated from UCI with a B.A. in social sciences, earned her social science credential from Chapman University in 2008 and is currently attending college to earn a master’s degree in education. She has a passion for working with older youth. She studied to be a history teacher but her career path took a turn, and she taught Spanish online as a private tutor for many years. She also has a passion for writing and started working on a blog with a team of women she grew up with and continues to write for the OC family lifestyle blog, Living Mi Vida Loca. Her hobbies include travel, reading, watching documentaries and spending time with her loved ones. |
Kim MacKeand ’04, ’05
Vice President Kim MacKeand graduated from UCI with an economics degree with minors in education and management. She received her social science credential from UCI and her master's degree in education and administrative credential from Chapman University. While attending UCI, she was an officer and volunteer with the Share Tutorial Project,an orginization tttt partnered with the Santa Ana Unified School District to tutor students in their after-school program. She worked as a tutor for the Santa Ana Unified School District during her senior year of college. Tutoring students during college inspired her to become a teacher. She currently is a high school history teacher in Riverside County and has served as a basketball coach, club advisor, CAHSEE/STAR Testing coordinator, BTSA support provider/mentor, and WASC member. She is passionate about mentoring other teachers. |
Yvonne Mansouri '04, '05
Events Chair Yvonne Mansouri graduated UCI with a B.A. in psychology and social behavior from the UCI School of Social Ecology in 2004 and received her Master of Arts in teaching and credential in 2005. Ms. Mansouri has more than 20 years of experience working and volunteering in the field of education, serving as an elementary school teacher, BTSA support provider, an instructor in the Gifted Students Academy and, for the past ten years, as owner and tutor of Cambridge Learner’s Academy. She also actively serves in her children’s PTA program, holding positions as president, drama and theater coordinator and math teams director. She is a member of the California Science Teachers Association (CSTA), National Honor Society in Psychology (Psi Chi), and American Montessori International (AMI). She also holds a certificate from UCI in Gifted and Talented Education and is a Tier 1 and Tier 2 NGSS certified educator. |
Xochitl Ortiz-Soto, Ph.D. ’97
Member at Large Dr. Xochitl Ortiz-Soto is a high school principal with 25 years of experience in public education in urban districts of Southern California. She is also an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology. Dr. Ortiz graduated from the UC Irvine School of Social Ecology in 1997 with a major in criminology and a minor in psychological science. Her career in education began as a biliterate Spanish/English BCLAD-certified elementary school teacher before serving as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) school psychologist at the elementary and secondary levels. In addition, she has over eight years of experience as an educational leader and administrator at the elementary and secondary grade levels. Her research includes the study of effective leadership in alternative education settings. Dr. Ortiz is passionate about cultivating meaningful relationships with students, families and staff. Her well-rounded experience as a teacher, a BCBA school psychologist and a site administrator in K-12 settings has given her a robust set of skills, tools and training to serve the academic needs of diverse student populations in early and secondary education. Growing up as a low-income multilingual learner and being a first-generation college graduate distinguishes Dr. Ortiz's leadership approach. This first-hand knowledge of struggle broadens her understanding of the unique needs of her diverse students. It enables her to apply her professional acumen with compassionate empathy to achieve positive educational outcomes for her students and staff. |
Brenda Ramos ’19, ’20
Member at Large Brenda Ramos earned her B.A. in sociology and education Sciences in 2019 and her Master of Arts in teaching and credential in 2020. While attending UCI, she served as the Student Alumni Association president for the UCI Alumni Association and Young Alumni Council. There, she led the executive officers in coordinating UCI Homecoming activities, an alumni speaker series and student-alumni events. In the MAT program, she participated in the Dual Immersion Experience, teaching both kindergarten and fourth grade, and received the Promising Master of Arts in Teaching Award in 2019 and the Chuck and Estella Acosta (CABE) Teachership Award in 2020. She currently works as a fifth-grade teacher in the La Habra City School District. |
Sabah Rashid ’04
Member at Large Sabah Rashid is the author of Upside Down, a children’s picture book about perseverance. Rashid is currently the head of the Center for Early Childhood Education and Lower School at Léman Manhattan Preparatory School. After graduating from UCI, she taught on the international circuit at American schools in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Prior to returning to the U.S. in 2019, Rashid had been leading international schools and was the founding head of the Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai with a focus on bilingualism. She is passionate about bringing people together, especially third-culture kids and adults, and celebrating individuality and diversity. |
Alumni Board AntBassadors
Carolyn Brothers '78, '80
Board AntBassador Carolyn Brothers is a facilitator/trainer for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UCI. She has taught in the San Jacinto and Garden Grove Unified School Districts and at Coastline College and Chapman University. She is one of the founders of the Resource Library for the Boys & Girls Club in Garden Grove. Ms. Brothers graduated from UCI in 1978 with a degree in psychology and later received two teaching credentials from UCI. |
Mary Roosevelt ’75
Board AntBassador Mary Roosevelt, the former program coordinator for the multiple subject credential program and director of external relations for the UCI Department of Education, received the UCI Medal in 1990. She also previously served as an ambassador and board member of the UCI Foundation. She is a trustee of the Ecolint American Foundation, president emeritus of the University of California Research Associates, and a friend and honorary fellow of Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. Mrs. Roosevelt was the principal of the Junior House at the United Nations International School in New York and also taught at the International School of Geneva in Switzerland, where she created the first draft of what is now the elementary curriculum for the International Baccalaureate. |
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