1. Her last name is pronounced “SHER-buh.”
In Katie’s lifetime, only two people have pronounced “Sciurba” correctly on the first try – a professor in Spain and a cashier at Von’s.
2. She has worked MANY jobs since age 16.
Most famously, she worked at See’s Candies in college and, to this day, can tell you what’s inside any piece of chocolate in the box!
3. She is a children’s book author.
Katie’s dreams came true when she signed the contract for her first picture book, Oye, Celia!: A Song for Celia Cruz, on her 24th birthday. She has also written children’s magazine articles and several books that were published in South Korea. She hopes to publish more.
4. She was “Miss Sciurba” before becoming “Dr. Sciurba.”
Katie taught at P.S. 79 in the Bronx. Her best memories from those days include “Open Mic Fridays,” showing Napoleon Dynamite, starting a lunchtime dance team, and taking a group of students on the subway on a Saturday to meet children’s book authors Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith at a Manhattan bookstore.
5. Katie LOVES New York.
Even though she grew up in Los Angeles, she is a New Yorker at heart. She lived in the city for seven years and can proudly still give directions to tourists when she goes back to visit.
6. She is happily married to another Ph.D.
Her husband, Dr. Jerry Rafiki Jenkins, is Professor of English and Multicultural Studies at Palomar College. They are parents to two wildly-entertaining boys who are ten years apart.
7. She is a salsera.
She danced on an amateur salsa team until she was 8-months pregnant with her youngest son.
How Katie is Making a Difference in the College of Education:
“As Assistant Professor of Literacy Education and Director of the SDSU Literacy Center, my primary goals are to ensure that each of the students I serve – from the K-12 to Doctoral levels – have opportunities to rise to their fullest potentials and to engage in learning experiences that are relevant and meaningful to their lives. Inspired by my top-notch professors at New York University, where I earned my doctorate, I view literacy as a vehicle for empowerment, and I am deeply committed to the amplification of students’ voices. I consider it a tremendous privilege to be here and to be doing this work.”