Crystal Willis was born in San Jose, California and grew up in the very small town of Folsom. She received her teaching credentials from California State University of Long Beach and her master’s degree in Curriculum Design and Instruction from Concordia University in Irvine.
Prior to teaching at Fountain Valley, Willis has taught at Marina, Ocean View, Paramount and Masuda. This is her first year teaching English at FVHS in Room 103.
In her free time, Willis enjoys traveling, indulging in spicy foods, eating and spending time with her husband and her cat, Dora. She is currently trying to learn Portuguese and how to play the guitar.
Of all the places that she has visited – London, Spain and Paris, just to name a few, Brazil has been her favorite. In Brazil, Willis is helping to build a school to teach English to the children living in the slums. “I’m helping to create the curriculum for the schools, and I’ll be there all summer,” she said.
“I really like going to other countries and experiencing their culture and just trying to see how they live their life and take some of that home.”
It took her a while to realize that teaching was her true passion. “I was actually a music major and I decided to change my whole life career to become a teacher,” said Willis. “I was about a year and a half away from graduating.”
Being a student that struggled in school, she realized that most teachers tended to teach the same way. “In college, I started having teachers that were really passionate. I thought maybe I could do this. I had this teacher who really motivated me and inspired me.”
Willis began tutoring students in English and soon realized how much she loved it. “I got far more joy out of helping others than I did performing songs and if I could do this for a living I would be the luckiest person.”
It wasn’t until college when she learned that she had dyslexia. “It made me realize that if I could do it, then anybody could do these things.”
Willis decided to teach English because it was something that was always difficult for her. “I wanted to be a teacher that would teach differently and get kids to realize that it wasn’t so hard.
The kids here are amazing, the staff here is wonderful and I hope I get to stay here and work with these students.”
