Maria Martinez, Coach/Consultant
Maria has been working in the educational field for the past
fourteen years. Maria worked in the Chicago Public School system
for nine years. She worked five years in a Special Education
Cross-Categorical Self Contained classroom and four years
implementing a full inclusion model. This experience gave her a
wealth of necessary skills to join Project CHOICES in August 2004.
Maria holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Development and is
currently pursuing a Certificate in Assistive Technology at
University of Illinois at Chicago.
Maria has been married for twenty three years and has three
wonderful children, Antonio 21, Ricardo 18, and Kayla 15. When she
is not working, Maria loves to get involved with activities at her
church. She and her family are die hard soccer fans. She is a Puma
and the rest of the family are Chivas, which is similar to North
siders vs South siders. Things can get very exiting during
the soccer season. Maria, like her husband, believes that dancing
is an art, and together they strive to dominate the floor with
cumbia, salsa, merengue, cha-cha, and a little bit of tango too.
She says, "Music does the body good and keeps the mind happy!"
Maria can be reached at mmartinez5@comcast.net or
815-751-1356.