Marcela Charlin, 5th Grade Teacher (charlin@lamcda.org)

Marcela Pappas/Charlin was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She came to the United States when she was four years old. She went to El Camino College where she started a degree in Special Education for the mentally and hearing impaired. However, she changed her focus of education to bilingual education at the university level. She received a B.A. (emphasis in Spanish) and teaching credential from Long Beach State University. She went to Talbot Seminary for one year before starting a family. She worked for Campus Crusade for Christ as a translator for five short-term projects in foreign countries. She taught Kindergarten and first grade in California. As her children grew, instead of putting them in public school, she helped start a private school for the gifted. She taught various subjects at that school until she moved to Idaho. She was a substitute teacher for Coeur d'Alene schools, preK - 12th grades. She began working at Lutheran Academy in 2005 as a pre-school teacher and the History and Science teacher for K-5th grades. She has taught 3rd - 5th grades as well. She ran the science fair for five years and she has been the choreographer for many talent shows and plays at LAM. She is now working on a second endorsement in Science.