Future Teacher Connects with Community, Leads with Compassion

Dalton Conden ’26 is poised to make a meaningful impact in Marin County’s schools when he enters the teaching profession. His commitment to fostering a caring and inclusive classroom reflects the values that Dominican’s teaching program has upheld for the past century. 

Dalton moved to the Bay Area after graduating from high school on the East Coast. He spent part of his gap year searching for a college that would not only help him reach his academic and professional goals but also align with his values. 

“I had always been interested in education and teaching, so I was looking for a really good education program in the Bay Area and Dominican’s name came up,” he recalls. “I did my research and went on a campus tour. Dominican felt so homey, and the people seemed so caring, so I knew Dominican would be a good home for me.”

Dalton, who is majoring in History with a minor in Education Studies, has known for years that he wants to become a teacher. His own experiences as a child shaped how he viewed the profession. The classroom, he says, should be an inclusive community in which students feel valued, heard, and understood. 

“Growing up I had a few learning disabilities or, as I say, different abilities. I was in special education classes for a portion of K-12 school,” he says. 

“In my high school, we had to do a certain amount of service hours in the community before graduating. Most people volunteered at food banks or retirement homes. But, I really wanted to do something around education, so I volunteered in a special education class and just fell in love with this aspect of giving back to something that played such an important role in shaping both my own educational experience, and helping others as well.” 

Dalton’s Dominican experience began with “Navigating College,” a course designed to help first-year students develop the skills necessary for academic success in college. Emphasis is placed on self-management, goal-directed behavior, effective study habits, and time management. 

The course gave Dalton a sense of what was ahead in terms of support and community.

“Everyone at Dominican makes it a point to make you feel heard and seen,” he says. “They truly value the experiences and differences you bring to the Dominican community and to the local community.”

Navigating College instructor Mark Jaime, who also serves as Dominican’s Executive Director of Alumni and Family Relations, says Dalton’s fit with Dominican was evident from day one.

“From the beginning of his journey at the university, Dalton has immersed himself in all things Dominican,” Jaime says. “He is a thoughtful and curious student with a heart set on making a difference and impacting his community.”

Dalton’s goal is to teach in San Rafael. Beginning his first year, he sought opportunities to connect with the local community. His first student teaching placement was in a first-grade classroom at San Rafael’s Sun Valley Elementary School. Later, through both his education program placement and a service-learning course, he volunteered at Davidson Middle School with students in grades 6-8. 

The service-learning course focused on ethics in marginalized communities and provided insight into the numerous issues around educational equity in California. In the Davidson classroom, Dalton provided support to both the teacher and the students and worked in various special education classes. Back in the Dominican classroom, he studied the social justice issues facing the Canal community, including their root causes and systemic solutions.

“The North Bay is a very special place. Even though it can be overlooked in terms of the demographics and its wealthy residents, there’s so much diversity here, especially in Marin County. There are so many areas where we need to help embrace our students and the diversity they bring to our community, and we need more teachers to reflect these values, too. Because of this, I am even happier and more grateful to be getting my education here and to call beautiful Marin County home.”

His experiences at Davidson Middle School also helped Dalton realize that he enjoys working with middle school students.

“At this stage, they are not quite little kids but not adults either,” he says. “They are still in this super cool area where they are eager to learn and to discover more about themselves while starting to develop their own thoughts and beliefs and learn about things on their own.” 

A caring and understanding educator can make a world of difference to a child at this age, Dalton notes. “This is an especially intersectional area where you, as an educator, are one of the most instrumental figures to help them search for knowledge and critically think and learn complex social skills. It’s both super cool and extremely important.”

This past summer Dalton worked as a teaching fellow with Breakthrough Collaborative, a college-access non-profit serving low-income, first-generation, and 7th-12th grade-aged children of single parents at the Santa Fe location. Dalton taught 7th-grade English in a classroom where most students were either English language learners or had different learning abilities.

The fellowship provided Dalton with invaluable hands-on experience, enhancing his understanding of educational strategies and interventions that support diverse learners. He wore many hats during the internship, from helping the younger students move into more complex academics to assisting the older students with essays and seeking college scholarships. 

“Breakthrough Collaborative's mission to support underserved students and close the educational gap resonates deeply with my career aspirations,” he says. “As an aspiring history/special education teacher, I am so grateful to have contributed to and learned from an organization dedicated to educational equity and student empowerment.”

He found the organization’s focus on mentoring and collaborating with students on classroom activities, field trips, and weekly events aligned with his own teaching style. 

“I tried to make it a point to have lunch every day with a student and get to know them on a more personal level because a lot of the students were new not only to the United States and/or Breakthrough but were new to education like this in general. I tried to make it all less scary for them,” he says. “Working closely with experienced educators and a diverse group of students broadened my perspective and equipped me with practical skills and insights that are essential for my future career.”

Despite his busy schedule – with five courses and service work this semester – Dalton makes it a priority to be involved with campus and the wider community. 

On campus, he serves as a Digital Portfolio Peer Mentor, Student Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for ASDU, and is an executive member of the Dominican PRIDE Club. Off-campus, he was recently appointed as a voting member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors Behavioral Health Board. The County position came about thanks to history and political science professor Alison Howard who connected Dalton with Julia Reinhard ’22, an aide to Marin County Supervisor Mary Sackett.

These experiences all underscore Dalton’s dedication to understanding and advocating for social justice. As he looks to the future, Dalton will continue to embody Dominican’s 100-year legacy of preparing teachers, ready to inspire the next generation of learners.