Sal Tinajero ’95
Sal Tinajero started cheering for Bradley as a student when he was a member of the Cheer Squad and he hasn’t stopped since. The teacher and coach of the Fullerton Union High School Speech and Debate team in Fullerton, California, currently has five (5) former students enrolled at Bradley and two (2) additional students starting in the fall. He brings his speech and debate team to compete in the George Armstrong tournament at Bradley every year. And . . . when he visited the White House after being selected as the 2005 National Hispanic Teacher of the Year, he presented the President and First Lady with Bradley Braves Sweet Sixteen T-shirts!
Tinajero enrolled at Bradley in 1992 after participating in speech and debate at Orange Coast College. According to Tinajero, “You make a lot of decisions in your life, but going to Bradley was the best decision I ever made. Bradley was everything I ever dreamed of. I graduated with everything I needed to succeed. What you get at Bradley is not just academic, but you are also taught to make the right choices. The education and social interactions were amazing. There were so many programs to experience. The size of Bradley allows you to experience so many avenues.”
Tinajero graduated from Bradley in 1995 with a Bachelor’s Degree in speech communications. After that, he earned a Masters Degree in multicultural education from National University in San Diego. In 1996, he took a job as a history teacher at Lathrop Intermediate School. He became very involved in the school and the community. In 1999, he was selected as the Southern California Teacher of the Year for his accomplishments, including the Reader’s Theater Program for underprivileged youth. In 2000, he ran for the school board against eight other candidates including three incumbents. He won by receiving the highest number of votes.
Tinajero then moved to Fullerton Union High School where he was hired to resurrect the school’s speech and debate team. The team started with approximately fifteen students and has since been extremely successful. It qualified for its first spot in the National Speech and Debate Tournament in 2005. A year later, its first-place finish in the Stanford Invitational qualified it for the Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky, regarded as the highest-level championship of the national circuit. The team has won the Orange County Speech League Championship four years in a row, and was one of the top five teams in the California State finals last April. Each year, Tinajero brings 50 students and chaperons to Bradley for the George Armstrong speech tournament. He proudly displays the trophy his team won by winning this tournament in 2007. (See photo of Tinajero and his speech and debate team.)
In addition to his teaching activities, Tinajero continues to be active in local politics. In 2006, he was elected to the City Council in Santa Ana California, the first “All Latino” City Council in a major-sized city. Tinajero is married to Jennifer (Snow) Tinajero, a 1995 Bradley graduate of the School of Nursing. He and Jennifer have three children, Salvador (9), Vincent (5) and Grace Natalia (1).
Tinajero advises current Bradley students to “enjoy all of your experiences. Even the stressful ones will make you stronger. After you graduate, you feel like you can take on the world. Do your best to keep this attitude; stay focused; and doors will open.
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