THE EDUCATOR
At an early age, Efraín Tovar decided to become an educator. It took only two teachers whose care and dedication was such that it moved me to pursue an honorable career in education. Learning, directly and indirectly, was inevitable. Thus, Tovar decided to directly influence future generations toward academic success. After being in education, first as a fourth and fifth-grade teacher, then as a counselor in higher education, Tovar knew that the fork in the road, the decisive time to guide students toward higher learning, occurred in junior high. It was at this time, Tovar determined, that the motivation and tools to succeed in high school and college needed to be emphasized. Tovar left higher education to focus on teaching junior high.

Tovar is a frequent speaker at local, state, national and international conferences, addressing how to utilize technology to meet the linguistic/digital needs of second language learners and their parents. He is the founder of @CAellchat, a global Professional Learning Network for teachers who teach second language learners and the Central Valley Coding Project, whose mission is to provide equitable access to coding opportunities for students and teachers. Tovar currently serves on the Central Valley Computer Using Educators (@CVCUE) Board. You can follow Tovar on Twitter @efraintovarjr.