Q: How long have you been teaching Armijo?  What do you teach? What else have you taught at AHS?  Where else have you taught? 

A: I have taught at Armijo for four years and then had a two-year break because of cuts in the arts programs. I have been back for the last four years. I currently teach Art 1 and Beginning Choir. I have taught Art II and Ceramics before at AHS. I have also taught in San Diego before I moved here to teach for Fairfield-Suisun. 

Q: Besides teaching what have you done for work? 

A: I didn’t start teaching until later in life, so I did all sorts of things for work, including but not limited to, lifeguarding and teaching swimming, cleaning houses and selling clothes at a retail store. I’ve worked as a cashier, server in a restaurant, professional musician, and a scenic and faux finish painter.

Q: Why did you become a teacher? 

A: I became a teacher because I wanted to work with kids and I felt that it might be something I would be good at.

Q: What are your hobbies? What else do you do for fun?  

A: My hobbies are baking, sewing, and arts and crafts. I like to play video games and take my dog to the dog park. 

Q: What advice would you give to students considering going into teaching?  If you could be anything else, what career would you pursue? 

A: I would advise anyone who wants to be a teacher to GO FOR IT and don’t pay too much attention to people who say bad things about teaching. It is an honorable profession and a rewarding one. If I could be anything else, I might want to be an author of cookbooks or craft books.

Q: If you could change one thing about Armijo (students, facilities, staff, etc.), what would it be and why?  

A: If I could change one thing about Armijo, it might be to have really great cafeteria and dining facilities so everyone in Armijo could all sit down together and have lunch together over a ninety minute lunch. It would be great if we also served food that incorporated vegetables from our own garden and students took turns serving and making food. 

Q: Where did you go to high school? Where did you go to college? Who influenced you when you were a student? 

A: I went to high school at a private boarding school in Colorado for two years and then a public school. I went to University of Colorado Boulder for a year and a half and then took two years off, then went for a further four years for a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Santa Clarita. I attended National University in San Diego for my teaching credential and a masters in cross-cultural education in my thirties, and then I went back again for an administrative credential and another master’s degree in Educational Leadership. I have had many faculty mentors. I think one of the most memorable was one of my professors at National University who taught himself how to speak English when he lived in Russia. He memorized his vocabulary as he walked in the snow to his school every day. He gave himself a goal of ten new words a day and in this way he taught himself a language and gained for himself a ticket to a future in education. That story has always stuck with me because it is a story of perseverance.

Q: Anything else you would like to say?  

A: I would like to say that I am grateful for the staff and students at Armijo for giving me a home to come to every day.