Sharon Pedersen is a current teacher at West Covina High School teaching anatomy, AP seminar, and a Junior AVID class and has taught for 26 years. She was born in Pico Rivera and was raised in East Whittier, where she made unforgettable memories. 

Before she was a teacher at West Covina High School, she was a registered dietitian for a couple years. After, she taught at IPoly for one year in 1997 and ever since 1998, has taught at West Covina High School.

¨If I ever decided to not be a teacher, I would have most likely still been a registered dietitian,¨ said Pedersen. 

Outside of teaching, she has hobbies that include hiking, going to the gym and listening to live music. Before COVID-19 struck, she used to go to her favorite hiking spot, Powder Canyon with a hiking group. She found nature to be therapeutic and fun to explore. 

Pedersen has always liked all kinds of music genres. It never really mattered what live music was playing, as long as she could vibe, she enjoyed it. 

Pedersen is also an advisor for Med Club as she thinks it is important to educate and give opportunities for people interested in the medical field. She is always in a good mood and building a good relationship with students is a priority to her. 

She attended Cal Poly Pomona, majoring in foods and nutrition and has always found the science field fascinating and a perfect fit for her which is why she decided to teach anatomy. Pedersen enjoyed Cal Poly Pomona and recommends that school to all as amazing times were made there.  

Like many other teachers, Pedersen faces a lot of challenges when teaching. One of her biggest ones is competing with phones. She does contemplate collecting them but thinks using phones is okay only when it is used to search for information on the learning subject.

¨It makes me sad to see students on their phones when I am teaching. It makes me feel like all the effort I’m putting into teaching has gone to waste,¨ said Pedersen. 

Pedersen always tries to be understanding with her students and gives extra credit opportunities at the end of the semester because all she wants is for her students to do good and learn.