Alexandra Gray

Far before Alexandra Gray found herself teaching ethnic studies, government and macroeconomics at Burlingame, she wanted to study and pursue business. 

Gray attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and briefly worked at the accounting behemoth Ernst & Young. It was there Gray was inspired to switch careers.

“I realized I didn’t want a desk job where it’s sitting, staring at a screen all day,” Gray said.

At UCLA, Gray received an early taste of the teaching life when she worked as a camp counselor.

“I compared those experiences with my experiences in the corporate world… and I thought, ‘What am I doing?’” Gray said.

She earned her master’s degree of education in social sciences at University of California, Santa Cruz and joined Burlingame immediately after.

“I feel very fortunate to have such supportive staff and kids [who] are engaged and spirited,” Gray said.

Gray looks to use her previous experience in the business world to help students prepare for financial independence after high school. 

“I’m super passionate about personal finance,” Gray said. “That is one of the reasons that I chose social studies specifically, so that I could teach econ[onmics] and really integrate personal finance into my econ curriculum.”

She also pointed out that California is one of only five states that does not require personal finance in its social studies standards. An East Bay native, Gray wishes she had learned personal finance in high school.

“I had so many questions, then in college I had to start filing my taxes and I had no idea what to do… That’s something that later on in my career I’d really love to work toward changing,” Gray said. 

As a result, Gray centers her teaching style around connecting academics to real life. 

“My goal is to make sure people feel actually prepared to go out there in the real world and be adults,” Gray said.