ABOUT MR. BRANSTETTER
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Although the name Branstetter is of German origin, my family is from Ecuador – specifically the cities of Latacunga and Quito. All my relatives are Ecuadorian. I am (43) and I have two awesome younger sisters, Jacqueline (42) – who lives in Ecuador and Susan (41). I am married to an awesome wife and mother, Donna. We have two young boys, Jacob (14) and Trevor (10) whom I love very much. |
I was born in Inglewood, California on May 8, 1968. My family lived in Westchester, CA until I was 8 years old. We then moved to Fountain Valley in Orange County.
| I graduated from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. At Mater Dei, I lettered in soccer where I played all four years. |  |
I graduated from CSU Fullerton with a major in History with an emphasis on War and Strategy. While attending CSUF, I lived in the dorms where I met my wonderful wife to be.
My final year of college was completed abroad at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan. When I came back from Japan, I became a private investigator until I finished earning my teacher credential – also completed at CSUF.
In 1993, I was hired by the Lake Elsinore Unified School District to begin my teaching career at Machado Elementary School where I taught for two years.
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In 1995, the sixth grade, which was still part of the elementary school, moved up to the middle school. I took a bold step and moved up with the sixth grade. It was at Elsinore Middle School that I taught Math and Science for seven years. I was definitely a big kid at EMS. I used to play basketball with the eighth graders before school, during recess break and during lunch. This is how I got to know most of the other kids at the school. I also organized an annual paintball gathering for all my students up in Corona. That was some of the most memorable times. |
In 1997, I graduated with a 4.0 G.P.A. from Azusa Pacific University with a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration.
I eventually moved back down to elementary school and began teaching at Cottonwood Canyon Elementary School when it first opened up in 2002. During the 2005-2006 school year, I was nominated for National Teacher of the Year. This nomination made me want to work even harder and gave me some self-validation that my hard work was being noticed. So obviously, it meant the world to me.
It has been my privilege to have been teaching kindergarten for the past eight years now and I absolutely love it. I have found my niche.
