Mrs. Torina Blackmond

Dear Guardians and Students:

Welcome to UGMS! It is my pleasure and honor to be your student’s 7th grade ELA Teacher. My background includes 20+ years of teaching experience working with a diverse population of learners and families. I have taught in California and New Mexico. I’m truly excited about working with your family. My goal is for us to become a team that builds on our student’s academic and social success. I believe when a collaboration of minds, hearts, and talents work together, learning success will happen! This is the year for us to go “Above & Beyond”! 

Each year, I learn something new about developing young learners and my teaching practices. We are growing together! The learning journey never gets old. I enjoy sharing and learning new information with my students in fun and creative ways on how to develop strong habits that foster reading and writing skills. 

I can't stress the importance of us becoming a team that builds on our student’s academic and social success. I believe in structured learning environments that provide safety and give learners choices to include their own creativity and uniqueness. I am a "Life-long Learner" and want to share my enjoyment of learning with my students and families.  

This is truly a special time in your student’s development. I am confident that together we can build a strong foundation that will support their development for many years to come. We all know anything worth having usually takes an enormous amount of time, effort, and even money before we achieve the desired goal. I find this to be true in the pursuit of knowledge. I will diligently work to cultivate a supportive learning environment with anticipation that students will be supported by the adults in their lives, so that they are ready to grow and learn in new ways. I believe in our UGMS community! Together we can go “Above & Beyond” academically and as a supportive community of learners!