To close this year’s Black History Month, The Cardinal spotlights Ms. Sharon Apple.

Ms. Apple has been teaching for 20 years.  She has been at Hoover since 2018.  She has created an open and welcoming classroom for her students, who appreciate having her as a teacher and mentor.  She allows them the space to express their feelings and concerns that affect their everyday lives.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Ms. Apple moved to San Diego when she was 11 years old. She was raised by a single mother during her childhood and has a Guyanese background.  She attended schools in San Diego.  At one point in high school, she decided she wanted to become a teacher to create change for young African-American youths who are often unseen and unheard.  She began her teaching career as a substitute teacher at Encanto Elementary. She then received a contract as an intern which led to her attending school and teaching at the same time for seven years. She then went to Clairemont High School and officially started her career as an English teacher.

Ms. Apple has been involved in many great things at Hoover.  She restarted the Black Student Union club which was responsible for the protest earlier in the school year.  She is the main director of the annual Hoover Nights which is an event that is open to the City Heights community.  She also is part of the Equity Committee which allows conversations around underserved students of color and how to engage and connect them to Hoover.  Currently, she is one of the Class of 2024 advisors and in 2021 was not only voted Hoover’s Teacher of the Year, but she also was selected as the San Diego Unified District Teacher of the Year.