De Vera Hooks is a native of the Los Angeles area who is a retired Mathematics educator from Los Angeles Unified School District of more than thirty years.  She is a product of Los Angeles Unified School District who, in turn, worked in the San Fernando Valley, Watts, and many neighborhoods in between.  She taught Basic Math (3rd grade through 8th grade), Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, and Algebra II to a variety of learners such as “Underachieving”, “At Risk”, “R.S.P.”, “S.D.C.”, and “Honors” students.

Her list of accolades reads like a list of Who’s Who.  So let’s start there.  In 1996 Ms. Hooks was a recipient of the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers Award.  She served as Mathematics Department Chairperson from 1991-1998 at Edwin Markham Middle School and James Audubon Middle School in South Los Angeles.  As LEARN Lead Teacher she was trained in U.C.L.A.’s Advanced Management Program from 1997-1998.  From 1997-2004 she co-authored the Middle School section of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Mathematics Curriculum Guide.  In 2001 Ms. Hooks was an instructor at U.C.L.A. for their Summer Mathematics Institute held for all kindergarten through second grade teachers in L.A.U.S.D.  

Ms. Hooks was a Secondary Mathematics Coach from the onset of the position in 2001 through 2007 where she continued to serve during her off-track time at James Foshay Learning Center.  In 2012 Ms. Hooks retired from Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy where she taught Honors students.