Dr. Debbie Bereki

Debbie Bereki, a prior Ventura County educator who received several awards in the 1980s and 1990’s for her innovative teaching, was conferred a Ph. D. in education at the June 12th commencement ceremony for UC Santa Barbara. Dr. Bereki’s focus while attending the UCSB Gevirtz Graduate School of Education was on science education reform and professional development. She conducted an ongoing professional development for teachers with scientists and observed two teachers in the classroom to analyze how they implemented new science curriculum and the resulting change they experienced.

What is so amazing about Dr. Bereki, though, is that she achieved this milestone following a serious car accident in 1998 that left her with multiple injuries including a traumatic brain injury. Her injuries prevented her from returning to her job teaching science at Fillmore High School. Dr. Bereki had to relearn to read and write following her accident, and was extremely challenged to complete her program of study, including writing a thesis for her Masters degree and a dissertation for her Doctorate.

Currently Dr. Bereki is doing consulting work in science education and also working on several books, including the story of her life experiences for the past 13 years. She is grateful that the years spent working on her graduate studies helped her to regain many of the cognitive skills that were lost do to her brain injury. Dr. Bereki would like her former students to know how much she enjoys hearing from them.