Professional Experience+

• Los Alamitos USD Credentialed Teacher, K-12 On-Call/Sub (2018 – Present)
• Long Beach Church leader and CEO (2006 – Present)
• GGUSD Credentialed Teacher, K-12/Adult On-Call/Sub (2001 – 2017)
• Long Beach USD Credentialed Teacher, K-12/Adult Hourly Teacher and On-Call/Sub (1992 – 2007)
• California Department of Water Resources / State Water Project, Water Education & Tour Coordinator (1996 – 2004)
• Norwalk-La Mirada USD Credentialed Teacher, Contract Teacher or K-12 On-Call/Sub (1992 – 1996 & Spring 2008)
• “Science Connection” Program of SCE in Partnership with JPL/NASA (for 5th/6th Grade Students & Teachers), Instructor (1993 – 1994)
• Orange County Department of Education, Instructional Aide (~4.5 years)

Community Involvement+

• GGUSD Human Relations Task Force (HRTF) Community Member (2019- Present)
• Community Hospital Long Beach Foundation Task Force Member for reopening the hospital (2018 – 2019)
  • Hospital will be reopening 2020 to help with the COVID-19 pandemic
• Advocate at GGUSD School Board meetings (2015 – Present) recommending ways to improve our schools, including:
  • Community resources, counseling and wellness programs for teen suicide prevention – a contributing factor prior to the District establishing the “Choose Wellness” program; that still-closed Wood Shops at all 10 intermediate schools and Auto Shops at 4 high schools be re-opened ASAP; preventing alleged misuse of public funds; and many other positive-change initiatives/suggestions. Advocacy accomplishments or contributing factors include but are not limited to the District:
  • Reopening the prior-eliminated Auto Shop classes back to 6 full-time classes at Rancho Alamitos High School, thereby keeping the program intact (2017);
  • Having all Board Policies and Administrative Regulations posted on the District’s website (~2017 – 2018);
  • Having GGUSD’s Proposed annual Budget posted on the District website for public review and comment prior to School Board approval;
  • Making the NET CETERA booklet available for parents at all District schools as a free resource to help protect children from online/social media abuse;
  • Re-establishing Youth In Government Day for 61 GGUSD high School students who participated on 2/15/2018.
• Orange County Science & Engineering Fair, Former Board Member and Judge
• Recipient of the “President’s Associates Human Service Award for Outstanding Community Service Leadership” – recognizing the outstanding volunteer accomplishments of only one student selected from among the University during Nicholas’ senior year at CSULB

Education+

• CSU Long Beach: Teacher Credential Training Program and Certification, K-12 & Adults (Science)
• CSU Long Beach: Bachelor’s Degree in Biology with Chemistry Minor
• Orange Coast College: Associate of Arts Degree
• Santiago Canyon College: CTE* Water Science courses and SWRCB, AWWA Certifications
• *Career & Technical Education – Water Treatment, Operations, Conservation/Efficiency
• Pacifica High School Honors graduate, ASB Officer, WASC Accreditation Commission student representative, Presidential Classroom For Young Americans, Key Club president, Science Project Special Awards received (Municipal Water District of Orange County, US Army, US Navy, and more)

Extended Biography+

Providing proven leadership and community service for more than five decades, Nicholas Dibs is ready and well-prepared to bring his experience and dedication to the GGUSD School Board to help bring much-needed positive change to improve the education of students so they and their families can have a better future!

Dibs is a credentialed science teacher with a degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. He has taught for many years in hundreds of classrooms at all grade levels (PreK-12 and Adult School) and in virtually all or most subjects at three public school districts, including over 16 years at schools throughout the GGUSD. Many years of experience in local classrooms throughout the district, makes him uniquely qualified to help lead the GGUSD into the new decade.

A long-time local resident, Nicholas Dibs was born and raised in Long Beach. Nick’s family moved to Garden Grove in 1973 where he attended Pacifica High School (PHS) and graduated with honors. While attending PHS, Nicholas was elected and served as an ASB Officer (Senior Class VP), was selected to participate in the City’s Youth In Government Day (YIGD) program, represented PHS at the Presidential Program For Young Americans in Washington DC, received a number of Special Awards (see below) at the OC Science & Engineering Fair, served as a student member of the visiting WASC Accreditation Committee/Team to Bell HS (LAUSD), served as Key Club president, and served in other PHS student leadership and community service roles.

Pursuing a career in education with a focus on life sciences, Nicholas Dibs graduated with an Associate Degree from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa in 1989, and earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) in 1991. During his senior year, he received the prestigious “President’s Associates Human Service Award For Outstanding Community Service Leadership” – annually recognizing the exemplary efforts of only one student at CSULB. He then successfully completed his fifth-year teacher training program at CSULB and became a credential and certified science teacher in 1992 after completing student-teaching at Millikan High School and Bancroft Middle School. To help “give back,” Nick also served for several years as a Board member, Judge and Judge Captain of the Orange County Science & Engineering Fair.

From 1992 to 2007, Nicholas worked as a credentialed teacher at Long Beach USD in a variety of hourly, substitute, and long-term teaching assignments, simultaneously serving four years as a substitute teacher with Norwalk-La Mirada USD until 1996. During 1993-1994, Nick worked as an Instructor on the very special SCE/NASA/JPL “Science Connection” mobile science classroom program that provided unique hands-on science learning to thousands of 5th and 6th Grade students and their teachers within SCE’s service area. Given his interest in the sciences, including having received Special Awards from the Municipal Water District of Orange County, the US Army, US Navy, and other organizations for his science project while attending Pacifica High School, Nick worked for the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) at the State Water Project as “Water Education & Tour Coordinator” from 1996 to 2004. From 2001 to 2017, Nicholas also worked for GGUSD as a credentialed teacher in a wide variety of K-12 and Adult School hourly or substitute teaching assignments in virtually every subject and grade level throughout the District in hundreds of classrooms. Nicholas has also worked as an Upward Bound Instructor at CSU, Fullerton. Since about 2018, Nick has been working “on-call” as a credentialed teacher in a variety of teaching/substitute assignments for Los Alamitos USD.

Nicholas has always been an advocate for our students, which is clearly exemplified by his lifelong service and leadership in the field of education. Nicholas began his career in education working as an Instructional Aide for four-and-a-half years for the Orange County Department of Education while attending college (click here). From 2015 to 2016, he lobbied and requested the School Board to not close the last two intermediate school Woodshops at Ralston and Alamitos Intermediate School and the school board incumbent did not stop them from closing in June 2016. From 2015 to present, Nicholas has repeatedly requested the incumbent and school board members to begin re-opening some or all 10 intermediate school Woodshops as well as the Auto Shop classes GGUSD eliminated from four high schools: Unfortunately, this important request has fallen on deaf ears because all 10 intermediate school Wood Shops and all four Auto Shops have remained closed to this day because the incumbent and school board have done virtually nothing to bring them back! Because of Nick’s initiative and efforts, in 2017 he was able to reverse the teacher-staffing cuts and restore all of the 2016-cut Auto Shop classes at Rancho Alamitos High School and they have remained open to this day!

Moreover, during 2017-2018, Nicholas actively worked to re-establish the Youth In Government Day (YIGD) program (for about 60 selected high school students) in the City of Garden Grove that he remembers participating in during high school. This focus intensified because the Youth Commission was discontinued and Nick worked to re-established the YIGD program that took place in 2018 for the first time after a long hiatus of about 20 years! During 2018, Nick also served on the Community Hospital Long Beach Foundation Task Force to reopen the hospital which serves Garden Grove. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, Nicholas Dibs co-sponsored the City of Garden Grove’s College Graduates Reception. For the past four years, Nick has provided a congratulatory letter of encouragement to high school and college graduates.

In May 2019 due to the attempted-suicide by a 7th Grade GGUSD student and published reports of increasing teen suicide (the second leading cause of death among youth), Nick spoke-up at multiple GGUSD School Board meetings to request GGUSD provide and increase – ASAP – counseling and wellness programs as a prevention measure to teen suicide, and is providing the community with wellness resources. Within months, the GGUSD School Board established the District’s “Choose Wellness Program” to help students and parents prevent teen suicide. Nicholas currently serves as a community member of the GGUSD Human Relations Task Force.

Nicholas Dibs is humbly asking for your Vote so he to expand his good work for our students by serving on the Garden Grove School Board. He advocates for safely reopening our schools NOW, reopening and increasing Career & Technical Education skilled-trades/Shop and other CTE classes to help students pursue career pathways to obtain living-wage jobs, implementing a GGUSD “College Promise” Initiative having GGUSD establish a non-profit GGUSD Education Foundation, reducing class sizes, and other important initiatives to help improve the education of all GGUSD students.

Your vote to elect Nicholas Dibs is a vote for our children, -- a vote to help achieve much-needed positive change to improve their education so students and their families can have a better future!

Helping students succeed and achieve positive change and a better future for everyone, aptly describes the commitment and community service leadership skills and motivations of Nicholas Dibs, a credentialed teacher who graduated with honors from the GGUSD. To help "give-back" and "pay it forward," Nicholas (known by students as Mr. Dibs) is asking for your vote to help bring much-needed positive change because "our public schools provide a critical foundation for the future wellbeing of students, families, local communities, our state, nation, and the world! And therefore we -- individually and collectively -- as citizens and voters, must do everything we can to help students (the future citizens and leaders of our nation) succeed and have the skills needed to become lifelong learners, critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and productive members of society."