Appreciated by the students and staff at Armijo, Mr. Anthony Gonzalez has been teaching on this campus for five years, which is only a small part of his 18 year teaching career. He said that he started teaching “over in the Napa Valley USD, at Silverado Middle School.”

Prior to becoming a teacher, he worked in the television industry “as well as the photography business,” Mr. Gonzalez said. At first, he wanted to be a videographer or a photographer, but after the tragic 9/11 incident in 2001, he switched his career goal to teaching, hoping to help teens.

Despite changing his career, Mr. Gonzalez still pursues his love for the arts. At Armijo he teaches a Computer Applications course, Multimedia II, and Digital Video Production.

Teaching has given Mr. Gonzalez numerous memorable experiences. “One of the things that I like the most is receiving communications from prior students,” he said. He has received several messages from former students: college graduation announcements, wedding invitations, and new baby announcements, to name a few. He’s even received Police Academy graduation announcements and invitations to incarceration program completion events. “I was equally excited and honored to attend,” he said.

Mr. Gonzalez identified developing the relationships with students and colleagues was one of the best things about teaching at Armijo, but “teaching with Ms. Gonzalez is the mostest bestest part” of teaching at Armijo,” he said. His wife also teaches at Armijo.

In his spare time, Mr. Gonzalez enjoys a variety of hobbies. “I love to go on adventures with Ms. Gonzalez; we love to travel,” he said. He also enjoys playing instruments, mostly the bongo and drum set. He said that he loves to “dabble in any art project…and spend time with my family.”

If he could choose a different profession now, he said that he would want to become an actor.