Jennifer Lopez

Jenna Lopez was raised in Austin, Texas. Her father was 1 of 10 children and grew up in an impoverished part of El Paso, Texas. He was a first-generation American and he was the first person in his family to attend college. Her mother was born and raised in Panama City, Panama. Although she also grew up in poverty, she became the Valedictorian of her high school. She was 1 of 5 children and she, along with 2 of her siblings, was amongst the first generation in her family to attend college. Her parents commitment to their education instilled a strong value of education in Jenna as well. She is committed to her own education as she pursues a Doctorate in Reading Education at Texas Woman's University. She also is committed to the education of others and will be beginning her 7th year as an elementary teacher in a Title I campus. She is passionate about diversity and authentic representation of multicultural characters. Her research focuses on authentic multicultural texts.