Meet Amber Trieu: Serving Up a Continuum of Support and Self-Advocacy
Riverside County Office of Education Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) Teacher, Anne Pruett, lovingly describes her classroom at Amelia Earhart Elementary School in Indio as a “three-ring circus.”
The description doesn’t stem from chaos or lack of organization, but rather, from the constant coming and going of students from Kindergarten to 5th grade who rotate between her special education class and mainstream settings in other classrooms to maximize their academic and social progress.
With the help of support staff, instructional assistants, and assistive technology, every one of the DHH students in Ms. Pruett’s classroom is learning about traditional academic concepts like reading and math. In addition, they are learning valuable lessons on how to advocate for themselves and ensure they have what they need to be successful at school and in life.
In 2014, Amber Trieu first entered the public school system in the Desert Sands Unified School District as a Kindergarten student with moderate to severe hearing loss. Ms. Pruett remembers the first days of Amber as a student in her classroom—where she would enjoy the opportunity to work with Amber for the next six years.
“I remember Amber as being quiet and reserved since she was an only child and the only Kindergartener in the class at the time. But, I could tell she was already an observer and a critical thinker,” Ms. Pruett said. “We have such incredible students, and I know we’re not supposed to have favorites, but I knew right away that there was something special about her.”
Later, when Amber was with her similarly-aged peers, she exhibited more independence and quickly learned to advocate for herself to ensure she had the support she needed.
“She wasn’t afraid to ask a teacher in a mainstream class to turn on closed captions on a video,” Ms. Pruett recollected. “She would ask the teacher who was using an audio amplifying device when talking, to hand it to students when they broke into small groups so she could hear others in her group.”
PLANTING SEEDS FOR CAREER EXPLORATION
One day, Ms. Pruett posed the question to her students, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
As is the case with many young students, there weren’t many definitive answers, so Ms. Pruett followed up with the question: “What do you enjoy doing in your free time?”.
At that prompt, Amber answered that she loved to cook.
Shortly thereafter, Ms. Pruett strategically cultivated that interest by adding a new vocabulary word into a lesson: “chef.”
Amber stuck with that culinary interest throughout elementary school and later gave a class assignment presentation about the research she had done about a career as a pastry chef or baker.
“Being in Ms. Pruett’s class was the best,” Amber recalled. “I have a lot of great memories from how she helped me.”
GROWING INTO NEW ADVENTURES
When Amber left Ms. Pruett’s classroom to enter middle school, she began working with Holly Mason, an RCOE Itinerant Teacher who travels to multiple school campuses to continue the support of DHH students.
Ms. Mason was in her first year with RCOE after serving as an educator for 26 years in Mississippi, and Amber Trieu was the first student on Ms. Mason’s roster from RCOE’s elementary auditory/oral program. The long-time teacher was initially concerned about how Amber might make the transition from a familiar and protected educational setting with every level of support at Amelia Earhart Elementary School, into a new, larger campus at Colonel Paige Middle School.
“Amber didn’t miss a beat,” Ms. Mason said. “Over the years, I’ve learned that every time I start working with students from Ms. Pruett’s classroom, it is the exact same experience. They all know how to use their equipment, are familiar with their hearing loss, can advocate for themselves, and they are ready to conquer the world.”
Amber stepped out of her comfort zone to get more involved on campus by trying student government and always maintaining straight A’s along the way. She also continued mixing it up in the kitchen by joining the campus cooking club.
As Ms. Mason walked with her through middle school, she was also there to help Amber transition to high school. She watched how Amber showed no concern about stepping on to a bigger campus and taking on the academically-challenging programs of La Quinta High School.
“She is everything you want a student to be—driven and earns top grades, but laid back, relaxed, and not anxious,” Ms. Mason said. “I am so impressed with the tenacity and perseverance that Amber has displayed through all her academic and extracurricular activities.”
As a high school freshman, it didn’t take long for Amber’s quiet confidence to lead her to try even more activities like basketball and culinary arts.
“Ms. Mason is very cool and friendly,” Amber said. “She supports me by reminding me to not be scared to ask for help and to keep working hard for things.”
Along with her coaches, friends, and family, Amber’s culinary arts teachers David Wood and Felicia Benavides at La Quinta High School, have also provided support and encouragement in her gastronomic explorations.
SERVING UP CULINARY EXCELLENCE
Amber put her budding culinary arts skills to the test at a recent competition and earned a first -place award. The regional competition for the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) was held on February 1, 2025, inside the facility for Culinary Arts at La Quinta High School.
Amber competed in the Culinary Display category that recognizes participants for their ability to demonstrate skills in presenting foods for a buffet table/or fine restaurant dining.
“This was my first competition, and I was stressed about it the whole week,” Amber admitted. “I was more worried about this competition than I was playing basketball.”
Although the competition aspect was similar to basketball, she didn’t have teammates to rely on. It was her individual skills and the judges’ scorecards that would determine her success.
For her entry, Amber made four different appetizer dishes: Poke Bites, Coconut Shrimp, Spam Musubi, and Malasadas—a type of doughnut popular in Hawaii that her uncle told her about and led her to track down a recipe.
She also learned right before the competition that she would be required to present two food carvings, so she created clever designs from a pineapple and multiple papayas. Finally, she was also judged on the presentation of it all—-including table setting and decorations that matched the theme of “Hawaiian Luau.”
“It is clear to us that she’s been in the kitchen before,” Mr. Wood said. “She has the drive to create and learn new things, and a mindset to move forward that inspires other students.”
Along with ten of her fellow students from the La Quinta High School Blackhawks Culinary Arts Program, Amber will participate in the 78th Annual California FCCLA State Leadership Conference set for April 26-29 in downtown Riverside.
LOOKING FORWARD
Both Ms. Pruett and Ms. Mason believe that Amber, like all their students, can achieve anything they desire.
“I love seeing the success of our students like Amber and others that I hear about from itinerant teachers like Ms. Mason,” Ms. Pruett said. “I love seeing them when they are so young, and then seeing how those seeds of self-advocacy we plant early on in Kindergarten help them accomplish so much in middle school and high school 10 years later.”
Amber’s goal is to graduate from La Quinta High School with a white gown—signifying a 4.0 grade-point average throughout high school that she remains on track for as she nears the end of her freshman year. She is still interested in pursuing a career as a baker but is also considering electrical engineering.
When asked what she might go back and tell her younger self, Amber is pensive and reflective.
“I would tell myself to not be scared to try new things, to always do your best, and realize that your actions have consequences,” Amber said.
Her culinary arts experience has also led to an enlightening thought that is just as valuable for life as it is in the kitchen.
“I’ve learned that it is important to go over the plan to be prepared for anything,” Amber noted. “For example, when a recipe calls for softened butter, you will need to know that ahead of time and have it ready by then.”
Just as Ms. Pruett and Ms. Mason prepare all their students to face any challenges that come their way, Amber has all the necessary ingredients to serve up a successful future.