Last year, Mr. Sterling Massola taught English at Sem Yeto, but this is his first year teaching on the traditional Armijo campus. “I teach 9th grade English and English intervention,” he said. “I became a teacher after deciding that I wanted to help students navigate the world and give them the tools needed to succeed in life that I think everyone should get in school.”

Mr. Massola grew up in Vacaville and graduated from Vacaville High School before going to UC Davis. “I didn’t go very far from home, huh?” he said. Before becoming a teacher, Mr. Massola was a restaurant manager and bartender in Sacramento, and he still does freelance art in his spare time.

Besides art, he enjoys are snowboarding, playing bass guitar, gardening and working on his car.

Occasionally he runs into students who aspire to become teachers and if he knows of a student with that goal, he has some suggestions. “The advice I would give is to practice patience, to learn how to laugh off other people’s opinions, and don’t be afraid to ask for help,” he said.

Mr. Massola is the oldest of four children, with two sisters and a brother, all of whom value education. “My youngest sister is in college at University of Arizona, my brother is a collegiate swimmer for CSU Bakersfield, and my other sister works for ski patrol in Tahoe and is going to teach English in Spain this year – she graduated from CSU Humboldt.” His mother is also a teacher! “We’e an adventurous bunch that loves to travel and try new things,” he said.