Mabuhay!  I am Maria Gudelia Artienda Tsosie, a native of the Philippines and a naturalized US Citizen.  I joined Window Rock Unified School District in 2003 as one of the first batch of Filipino teachers to come and teach at the district. Prior to coming here to the US, I have taught Chemistry and Science Research for 17 years then served for 3 years as Department Chair Level V at one of the biggest public high schools in Bulacan, Philippines. I have been teaching here at Window Rock High School for 19 years and during those years I have taught several different classes -  Earth Science, Physical Science, Environmental Science ,Chemistry and AVID.  This year I will be teaching Chemistry to juniors and seniors. I am the chair of the Science department, a position I have held for about 13 years now. I was also the Site Coordinator for AVID since its inception and implementation at the high school in 2010, until I relinquished the position in 2017 . I was also part of the Project ELEVATE Team, another leadership role I assumed a few years ago and which was instrumental in turning our school to what it is now, a performing school.

 Although Chemistry and being a chemist is my first love ,teaching became my passion. I devote tremendous amount of time and energy planning activities that foster higher order thinking skills among my students. I make their  everyday experiences challenging yet fun and meaningful. My goals are for my students to appreciate learning as a tool for understanding the world and materials around them and essentially, use these knowledge  to solve problems, make wise decisions, be vigilant and responsible users and consumers or goods. Ultimately, my hope is that they will explore on careers in Science and be the next experts in their chosen fields.

I am married to a retired US Navy who shares my love for gardening, music, art and photography and travel. I love to sing and dance, and I find ways to integrate music and dance in the classroom and other school activities. I am crazy about my four grandchildren - Jaron, RiverAmaya and Anna,  with another one forthcoming in winter.They are my source of inspiration and joy, my "caffeine" when my energy runs low and need to be catalyzed for the next classroom reaction.

The past year and ahalf had been very challenging with the COVID-19 pandemic, each one us had dealt with some form of stress, issue, problem of varied nature but we are reselient and persevering and  this school year we will face be sheer determination that together, we will accomplish our goals and achieve our mission.