Mabel Paine Elementary teacher Brittany Bibeau, a transitional kindergarten teacher, is teaching in the same classroom where she herself attended kindergarten many years ago. While the interior of the classroom is now renovated due to recent district-wide modernizations, the classroom still has the same number: K-62.
For Bibeau, it’s a life-long dream come true. “Yes, I have always wanted to be a teacher,” she stated. “While in college, people would ask me where I would want to teach and I would always say ‘I would love to teach in the Placentia-Yorba Linda district, specifically at Mabel Paine because I went there, but I know that is very unlikely.’ I had such an amazing experience at Mabel Paine and I feel so blessed to be back here.”
One of her inspirations to becoming a teacher was her former second grade teacher, Kim Castillo, who still teaches in the school district but at another elementary school. Castillo recalls Brittany as a “wonderful student who always had a smile on her face.” Bibeau commented that she has wanted to be a teacher ever since she was in Castillo’s class.
After Mabel Paine, Bibeau attended Yorba Linda Middle School and El Dorado High School where she graduated in 2006. After high school she attended San Diego State where she earned her bachelor’s degree and Cal State Fullerton where she earned her teaching credential and a master’s degree. While earning her degrees, Bibeau held several student teaching jobs, including serving as a student teacher in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD). In 2011, the PYLUSD hired her—first as a substitute teacher, then as a specialized teacher to help students who need reading or English development assistance. This September, she was hired as a full-time teacher and returned to her former school, Mabel Paine Elementary, to teach transitional kindergarten in the same classroom that she attended as a child.
For Bibeau, it’s a life-long dream come true. “Yes, I have always wanted to be a teacher,” she stated. “While in college, people would ask me where I would want to teach and I would always say ‘I would love to teach in the Placentia-Yorba Linda district, specifically at Mabel Paine because I went there, but I know that is very unlikely.’ I had such an amazing experience at Mabel Paine and I feel so blessed to be back here.”
One of her inspirations to becoming a teacher was her former second grade teacher, Kim Castillo, who still teaches in the school district but at another elementary school. Castillo recalls Brittany as a “wonderful student who always had a smile on her face.” Bibeau commented that she has wanted to be a teacher ever since she was in Castillo’s class.
After Mabel Paine, Bibeau attended Yorba Linda Middle School and El Dorado High School where she graduated in 2006. After high school she attended San Diego State where she earned her bachelor’s degree and Cal State Fullerton where she earned her teaching credential and a master’s degree. While earning her degrees, Bibeau held several student teaching jobs, including serving as a student teacher in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District (PYLUSD). In 2011, the PYLUSD hired her—first as a substitute teacher, then as a specialized teacher to help students who need reading or English development assistance. This September, she was hired as a full-time teacher and returned to her former school, Mabel Paine Elementary, to teach transitional kindergarten in the same classroom that she attended as a child.