Written By: Sophia Caruso, Staff Writer
WELCOME: Poly’s new teacher Mr. Inga enjoys spending time with his students and tortoises.
This year at Poly, we have the pleasure of welcoming a new staff member in the history department. His name is David Inga. Currently, he teaches two classes, US History and World History. Riverside is fairly new to him, considering he moved here from Orange County two years ago. For a while, he was commuting from Riverside all the way to Orange County and decided that it was time to get a job out here.
Poly has given Mr. Inga a warm welcome as he states, “ I feel like my department has been really really supportive…so many folks here have been supportive of everything since day one.” This isn’t surprising, because as you all know, Poly is inclusive of everyone, but we go further than any other school, “ experiencing the PLC’s here, the professional learning community here has been…eye-opening for me because I feel…some of the places i’m coming from, didn’tmake me feel as supported.” Mr. Inga explains that he feels very welcomed here at Poly and that numerous teachers here at Poly have reached out to him, making sure he knows that they are here to help him whenever he may need.
Mr. Inga explains that he comes from a first generation immigrant home, and he feels that he can help other people by bringing his point of view to his teachings. He is Peruvian and states that, “Peruvians are very chatty, we like to talk…I like to encourage my students to talk to each other and get to know each other. I like to incorporate a lot of social emotional learning.” Mr. Inga is very passionate about teaching his students how to effectively communicate and believes that communication is a key point in life.
Originally he didn’t plan on becoming a teacher, as most teachers say, but surprisingly, had a passion for reptiles in his youth. Although he is a teacher full time, he still finds the time for other passions and raises tortoises at his home. Currently, he owns three tortoises and spends his free time taking care of them, but also dreams of, “getting a plot of land out in Joshua Tree and…having a tortoise sanctuary.” This is an unlikely but very intriguing passion to have, as it’s not often heard about.
Mr. Inga’s classroom is located in room 610 in the lower half of the 600’s building. His door is open for more conversations and encouragement from Poly students. Swing by his class and welcome him to our Poly family!