Jo Bonita Rains
Bonita and Associates
Cultural Diversity Specialist  

Harmony ~~ Working Better Together

Jo Bonita Rains began her career as a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she was an English/Spanish bilingual teacher.  She also taught gifted and talented and special needs students.  As a curriculum specialist in LAUSD, she developed classroom materials that were used with Spanish and selected Asian language students.  She consulted with LAUSD teachers and conducted trainings on cross-cultural understanding and teaching English Language Learners.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education hired Jo Bonita as their Multicultural Education Consultant, to provide multicultural education trainings for educators, support staff and community groups in the 93 school districts in L. A. County and to organize countywide conferences on diverse cultures.  Ms. Rains developed and organized classroom materials and research resources, kindergarten to university, covering over eighty-five different cultures. In this position, she also coordinated staff development for English Language Learner classrooms, with diverse languages. Jo Bonita served as a multicultural education specialist to the California Department of Education, focusing on curriculum and instruction; she was also a co-author for the California Course of Study Curriculum and Instructional Framework, integrating cultural diversity understanding in each curriculum area, kindergarten through grade eight.

Jo Bonita Rains’ skills and expertise was recognized by the California Teachers Association, who became her next employer.  Ms. Rains conducted and coordinated similar educational services for teachers in school districts throughout California.  In this position, the National Education Association utilized her abilities to conduct trainings for educators in various states throughout the country.  The ultimate experience was the NEA sent Jo Bonita Rains to Slovenia, to conduct cultural diversity trainings for the national heads of their educational programs of the formally communist countries in Eastern Europe, on teacher training techniques and resources that would prepare their teachers to educate students from diverse backgrounds.

Recognition & Volunteer Activities:

• “Outstanding Elementary Teacher”, Los Angeles County, Human Relations Commission & The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, John Anson-For Human Relations Award
• California – Educator of The Year, Honored At Dodger Stadium 1991
• Commencement Speaker – Cal Poly Pomona
• Women of Distinction, 2002-2003 – Soroptimist International of Lake Arrowhead
• Paul Harris Fellow – Rotary International Foundation
• Board Member – Delta Dental of California
• Board Chair – Cal State Los Angeles “Friends of Education”
• Cal State San Bernardino University – Member Scholarship Committee
• Honorary Service Award – PTA, 1^st District
• Board President – Rim of The World, Educational Foundation

Adjunct Professor at: Cal State Los Angeles, UCLA Extension, University of Laverne, Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena and University of California, Sand Diego

Certificate of Appreciation – Korean-American Educators Association

Certificate of Appreciation –Armenian-American Educators Association

International Presentations:

• National Education Association Speaker at the “International Education Conference” held in Slovenia 1997

In retirement, Jo Bonita Rains has a consulting service, Bonita & Associates, serving as a cultural diversity specialist.

P.O. Box 2526, Lake Arrowhead, CA 92352 909-224-0573

[email protected]