Meet Tammy

I have deep roots in Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley. I grew up in Covina, lived in Pasadena for over 20 years and together, my husband and I raised our two children here. The San Gabriel Valley is where my grandparents put down their roots and where both of my parents grew up.

My dad grew up in Rosemead. He remembers when he could catch a crayfish in the stream that ran behind his house and was in the first graduating class of Rosemead High School. My mother grew up in El Monte and rode her horse through the orange groves that blanketed the San Gabriel Valley. They both became teachers. They met as first year teachers at a then brand new elementary school in Rowland Unified School District. One day, my mother went to a store and bought materials for her classroom. And that gave them and idea... Maybe other teachers would like a special store filled with interesting things especially for teachers and their classrooms. And so my parents opened one of the first school supply stores in the nation, Warren’s Educational Supplies. They worked long hours and I grew up in the back of the store. When I was old enough, I worked in the store every Saturday and during the summer. I helped teachers select materials for their classrooms, helped them get the best value for their purchase order dollars, read the books, learned to use the materials and helped manage our family store. Education is in my blood, with mother, father, aunts and uncles as educators. With so many educators in my family, I didn’t think we needed one more. Instead, I decided to get a degree in business administration to bring business knowledge back to our family enterprise. I attended USC and earned my degree in business administration with an emphasis in entrepreneurship.

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By now, my parents had developed some teaching materials of their own and there were now teacher supply stores around the country. My summer job for two summers during college was to visit these school supply stores and distributors to sell them the beautiful educational charts and stickers and workbooks my parents created. I loaded up the family station wagon and one summer drove from California, down to the tip of Texas, on across the south to Florida and then looped around to head back to California. The next summer I did the same but on a northerly route through the Mid-West and New England. At every stop I met with educators, former educators, and people that cared deeply about education. I graduated from USC and did go into our family business, doing what I loved - combining my passion for education with my business knowledge.

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And today that hasn’t changed. I believe that education is the foundation for personal change, for economic and social mobility, and for advancement of the individual and the community. Nothing is more important than education. Educated citizens are our best resource. The creativity and innovation of an educated person is boundless and propels the individual and our community to greater fulfillment, happiness and prosperity.

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I can think of no better way to serve my community than to represent you on the Board of Trustees of Pasadena Community College. I will focus my passion for education along with my business sense and work to ensure that we have the best run, most outstanding community college in all of California.

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You are welcome to contact me on my cell phone at 626-744-9533 or send me an email at tammy@tammysilver4pcc.com.
 

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With thanks and appreciation,