Whether she’s playing beach volleyball, biking along the coast, or hiking local trails with her dog, math teacher Alisa Block spends much of her free time exploring Santa Barbara’s landscape. She often plays beach volleyball with the club 805 Beach, as well as with people that she’s met “out in the wild.”
Block said that biking is another one of her hobbies. One route she especially enjoys is riding from Goleta Beach to Hendry’s Beach, a trip she says is worth it for the ocean views along the way.
”I’m really a nature person, so I go out on hikes a lot with my dog,” Block said.
Her doberman, Dobi, often accompanies her to beach volleyball, as well as on their routine walks. Block said that the Douglas Family Preserve and Elwood Mesa are among his favorite spots.
“I take him on outings every day, rain or shine,” Block said.
Block’s love for staying active is influenced by her background as a personal trainer and her studies in psychology during her undergraduate years. Block says she understands the importance of an active lifestyle for both a person’s physical and mental health. These experiences help explain why she enjoys challenging herself physically.
“I feel better when I’m active and being outside in the sun and experiencing how beautiful the world is, especially in Santa Barbara,” Block said. “I always like to encourage people to go outside whenever they can.”
Block has lived in Santa Barbara since 2013 and says that its unique landscape and kind people are some of the things she appreciates the most about it.
“My favorite thing about living here is how diverse the outdoor experiences are,” Block said. “You can, in the same day, go to the beach, go on a hike, jump in a river.”
“Anything that gets me outdoors and physically active, and I’ll be there,” she said.
However, Block also spends a lot of time in the classroom.
After spending three years as a long-term substitute teacher, Block applied to a teaching program at University of California, Santa Barbara, where she earned her teaching credentials. Since then, she has taught Math 1, Math 2, Math 3 Support, and Math 2/3 Compaction at Dos Pueblos High School.
Her approach to teaching math was shaped by her own experiences as a student.
“I remember having some math teachers that made me not like math because they were kind of mean, or not understanding,” Block said. “And I always thought you can teach math and not be mean, and you can teach math in a way that makes students like it.”
Although Block has worked at various other schools, she says that the community at DPHS was part of the reason she decided to become a full-time teacher.
“I just liked working at the school,” she said. “But it was really the environment of Dos Pueblos, and the community. Everyone here is really awesome, so that contributed as well.”
Another reason Block enjoys teaching is because of the impact she can have on her students. Math, in particular, has always been a strength of hers, and she believes that it is one of the most important subjects to learn.
“People think they won’t use it in their life,” Block said. “But I think math is useful for problem solving.”
