Hello and Welcome!  My name is Pam Duarte and I am one of the Life Skills teachers here at Canyon del Oro High School.  Although born in California, I was raised in Tucson and I'm a graduate of Canyon del Oro.  I attended Northern Arizona University, where I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary and Special Education.  I started teaching at Canyon del Oro in 1997.  I married in 2003 on the lovely island of Jamaica and I have 2 boys.  I enjoy spending my summers on-the-road!  My family enjoys traveling, camping, hiking and biking. 

Defining Moment in Education

From a very young age I knew I wanted to be a teacher.  I looked up to all my teachers and enjoyed learning.  When I was in the 5th grade, my teacher had a parent guest speaker come with her son and daughter.  Her son had Downs Syndrome and the family shared what it was like to have a son/sibling with a developmental disability.  From that moment I knew I wanted to teach students with special needs.  The irony of meeting Peter when I was 10 is that 14 years later, he was a student in my Life Skills class at Canyon del Oro.

Classes I teach and involvement at CDO

Life Skills/Functional Academics - focus is on real-world life skills and community based instruction.

Peer Leader Program - focus is reverse mainstreaming - putting peers with and without disabilties together.  If you are a student interested in being a peer leader, please contact me or your grade level counselor.

Dream Team Club - ...... For more information, click on the Dream Team Club page.

Special Olympics Unified Sports - focus is unifying students with and without disabilities, practicing and competing in a variety of sporting events.  For more information, open the Special Olympics page. 

Special Olympics Unified Cheerleading - focus is unifying students with and without disabilities, practicing, competing and community involvement.