Natali Gaxiola (she/her) is an early childhood educator at Lennox School District. She earned an Associate of Arts degree in early childhood education from El Camino College and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from California State University Dominguez Hills. She has been teaching in the Lennox State Preschool Program for twenty-one years. Her background in psychology and experience in the classroom has equipped her with strategies and teaching methods that support the development of the whole child. She believes in finding innovative ways of teaching and has found partnerships that facilitate consistent improvements in her pedagogy. The UCLA Mathematics Project has trained her with research-based teaching methods, which have led her to be featured on the Teaching Channel, present at the CMC South Conference, participate as a collaborating author of the book Choral Counting & Counting Collections: Transforming the PreK-5 math classroom, and current at the CGI Biennial Conference. In June 2019, she was named Los Angeles County’s 12th Annual Early Educator of the Year. In January 2020, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon appointed her to the California Early Childhood Policy Council. She was also named Employee of the Year for the Lennox School District for the 2021-2022 school year. She has a passion for learning and teaching. Natali also believes that a strong connection between home, school, and community is the most powerful element that leads to a child’s overall success.