Katina Santamaria was born in Chile, South America. Her father’s family is from Italy and her mother’s family is from Spain so she learned how to speak Spanish and Italian as a child. When she was 6-years-old her family moved to New Jersey. Katina had to learn English and help her parents and sister to learn English. While in high school, she volunteered to teach English thus sparking her passion for education. Katina spent 21 years in the banking industry but stayed involved with education through Junior Achievement, privately tutoring and volunteering at schools. Because education was her true passion she decided she needed to make a career change. At the age of 48, Katina sold her home and went back to school full time and earned a Master of Education degree from the University of Utah. “I love what I do every day. I love working with our students, faculty, and staff. I know education changes lives and good education changes the future.”
