Kendrick Chow, a passionate scientist who has been teaching for over eight years, was recently welcomed as Burlingame’s new chemistry teacher. According to Chow, he practices his curiosity for experimentation both inside and outside of the classroom.

Chow’s first teaching experiences were at science, technology, engineering, and math camps and educational programs after college. During his time teaching at night and summer schools, Chow engineered lesson plans to fit his teaching style.

“Teaching was much more engineering than I thought it was, and that got me interested into teaching,” Mr. Chow said.

Since coming to Burlingame, Chow said he is surprised by his students’ willingness to learn and the questions they ask, even if they aren’t relevant to the class.

“The idea that people are engaged and connecting with ideas is very refreshing,” Chow said.

Additionally, Chow said he appreciates his students’ curiosity in the classroom.

“I love when my students are curious and that they are wondering and thinking. That’s the most important part of being human,” he said.

Chow’s passion for curiosity extends beyond his classroom and to his kitchen at home. For Chow, the kitchen is the closest thing he has to a chemistry lab.

“If you think about a recipe, you have all the ingredients, you have all the steps, and then, boom, you follow the steps, you come out with a new thing, and the only difference is that this is edible,” Chow said.

As a new teacher at Burlingame, Chow said one of his goals is to adapt to the school’s environment while also sparking a love for chemistry in students previously disengaged with the learning.

“My favorite part about chemistry teaching is when I have a student who may have checked out and decided for themselves that they don’t like science. I’m hoping to reach those students and have them have a new look, like, oh, maybe chemistry is for me,” Chow said.

New video and game design teacher Henry Francisco says he’s looking forward to using his experience in photography and graphic design to help teach Burlingame students.

Growing up in Los Angeles, California, Francisco was exposed to a diverse range of art genres, which sparked an interest in the field.

“I’m originally from Los Angeles, from the East Hollywood, Silver Lake quadrant of the city. So Hollywood was right in the backyard. Just seeing a lot of art media that was always in tune with that,” Francisco said.

Since then, Francisco has been teaching and working as a professional photographer and enjoys taking his expertise outside of his teaching job.

“Outside of these four walls, I’m a professional photographer,” Francisco said. “I’ve done several music festivals. I’ve worked with different artists, I’ve done several art exhibits outside of work, outside of the studio here in the city, and in LA.”

Even when not at work, Francisco continues to build his experience through different events. He said he wants to use these experiences to improve his teaching skills.

“Having that expertise outside of the classroom, that’s what career tech education is, and the beauty of it is that since we have experience outside of the classroom, we can come in and bring it into a studio,” Francisco said.

Previously, Francisco also taught social science and ethnic studies. As a teacher, Francisco’s mission has always been to help bring disadvantaged youth into the spotlight.

“Getting underserved folks, underserved people into the industry, that is my primary goal,” Francisco said. “To be writers, to be the person on the camera, to be the animators, illustrators, and centering those folk’s stories in — whether it’s Hollywood or independent projects — those are the stories that myself and a lot of [my] colleagues are trying to push out into the media world.”

Before teaching and choreographing at Burlingame, dance and drama teacher Michelle Shannon performed in New York as a professional stage actress. She also worked in film production as a documentary archivist while pregnant with her oldest daughter. Eventually, she moved back to the Bay Area, where she was born.

In San Francisco, Shannon joined a cover band. After performing around the city, she said she returned to teaching. She first taught at Presidio Dance Theater with younger students and later in musical theater classes.

“And then [I] got a job as the associate director of a theater company in San Francisco. I did that for a long time when we moved out here. I [also] started my own private local studio about 12 years ago,” Shannon said.

Shannon sings and teaches, but above everything else, she said her passion is dancing. Shannon said that ever since she was young, she has danced tap, jazz, spin, and swing.

“At age four, I remember going to a dance recital with my mom, and I said, ‘I want to do that,’ so she put me in,” Shannon said. “I started when I was about ten, doing community theater, and because of my dance background, I started singing. I got my first professional job at 13… and then went off to the Boston Conservatory of music and graduated.”

After graduation, Shannon eventually made her way back to school, this time as a teacher. After Shannon helped choreograph shows last year, Mrs. Skelton, the previous drama teacher, suggested Shannon take up her position as the drama teacher after Skelton retired.

As a teacher, Shannon said she listens to her students and takes in their input, which is the reason she chose to create the new dance program this year. Still, there is more that she said she is excited to introduce to her classes.

“A major theater company here in the Bay Area is coming in to do an entire playwriting series with the advanced drama class, and… we’re doing two field trips to see ‘Little Women and Come From Away,’” Shannon said.

Currently, Shannon said she’s working on several projects, including upcoming performances at the end of October and a performance on Dec. 11. As the choreographer for all of these productions, she said she has her hands full.

“To choreograph a three-minute number probably will take me about six hours,” Shannon said. “And then keeping in mind that in a dance show, those numbers are seven minutes long, and there’s probably at least nine numbers, so it takes some time.”

Although Shannon said she is putting a lot of time and effort into these projects, her main focus is on her students’ development.

“I love teaching these kids who are so passionate about the arts, and I love bringing the arts to kids that didn’t know that they needed it in their life,” Shannon said. “You can see them really enjoying it.”

New to the Burlingame community, Cassandra Schaffer has stepped into the role of Italian teacher. She brings a unique background that includes teaching in Europe and Asia and working for fashion designer Tom Ford.

Schaffer initially pursued a fashion career, working as Tom Ford’s personal assistant and at Gucci for ten years. However, she switched jobs due to time constraints and branched out to other avenues.

“It was the kind of job where we were working seven days a week, traveling, a lot of travel,” Schaffer said. “So I purchased a bed-and-breakfast, and it was property. It was a monastic residence outside of Florence, Italy, and with a small vineyard and olive grove. Fun fact, I’m a registered farmer in Italy because I was making olive oil and wine, and I did that for 10 years.”

Schaffer proceeded to work at international schools around the world, including countries like Scandinavia and Vietnam. She also taught at public institutions in the United States, one of them being a Title I school.

“It was a decision that I made [because] I wanted to teach students that really had a greater need of support,” Shaffer said.

At a middle school, Schaffer started an Italian club, which gained significant popularity on campus. On their own, the club raised enough money to fund a trip to Italy, a visit that Schaffer said inspired her to teach the language and apply to Burlingame’s Italian program.

“[The club] went to Italy during the summer, and I loved it,” Schaffer said. “I decided to get my Italian credential because I thought it would be fun to teach Italian also. And then I saw the opening here, and I thought, this is perfect. This is what I’d like to do.”

Now at Burlingame, Schaffer said she appreciates the friendly community of students and teachers.

“I really enjoy the classes, definitely the students,” Schaffer said. “I also really [like] the World Language Department. I enjoy working with my colleagues.”

Out of all her careers, Schaffer said she enjoys teaching the most because she can make a positive impact in her community and connect with her students.

“I think [education is] the most important and out of everything I’ve done, this is definitely my favorite career. I love teaching,” Schaffer said.

New geometry and compressed math teacher Alexander Magaña is stepping into his fourth year as a teacher after starting off as an instructional assistant. For Magaña, the most important rule of teaching is to make a positive impression on students. He said he enjoys building students’ self-confidence through meaningful conversations and aims to support both academic and personal growth.

“Education comes along as well, but how you carry yourself is really important,” Magaña said. “So I just try to be really supportive.”

Outside of the classroom, Magaña said he brings the same thoughtful energy to his personal life as a sports enthusiast, music lover, and second-hand collector.

Magaña said his appreciation for vibrant, expressive environments drew him to Burlingame. This includes the Friday night football games, where he said he was impressed by the energy of the crowd and school pride.

“I really enjoy seeing how hyped up students get and how supportive they are and how loud they are. That’s [what] I really enjoy watching sports as well,” Magaña said.

As a new addition to the faculty, Magaña said he is excited to teach and find more ways to connect with the school community.

“My goal is just really to adapt and get to know as many teachers as I can and also see how I can get more involved, maybe be like a club advisor in the future,” Magaña said.

Despite original aspirations to pursue a career in nutritional science, Richard Gonzales pivoted to the education industry. He worked at Burlingame as a campus security officer, instructional aide, and long-term substitute before ending up in his current position as a special education teacher.

“I originally went to school to become a registered dietitian. So I majored in Nutritional Science,” said Gonzales. “If you’re not familiar with a registered dietitian, it helps people with various diseases or health conditions.”

Gonzales came to Burlingame after the COVID-19 pandemic, and after experimenting in different roles, he said it was clear that special education would be a good fit.

“I enjoyed this environment, and I felt like I could see myself doing this for a long time. So I decided to switch paths and become a teacher. I didn’t know if I wanted to do math, chemistry, or special ed. But being an aide and having the experience, I realized that special ed is where my heart was,” Gonzales said.

Aside from his job as a teacher, he also enjoys his role as a junior varsity (JV) football coach. Gonzalez said he views his job as helping players to develop.

“The way I look at it is through the freshman, JV [teams], we’re there to develop to varsity level, so everything that happens is a learning experience to help the kids develop,” Gonzales said.

His role as a special education teacher includes multiple responsibilities aside from teaching.

“It’s a stressful position. We not only teach instruction, but we also have paperwork. We’re responsible for a case manager for a lot of the students. So we’re not only responsible for paperwork and the instruction, we’re also responsible for our students as well as advocating for them,” Gonzales said.

Even with all the responsibilities, Gonzales said he enjoys his work and the environment of Burlingame.

“I enjoyed the atmosphere, I enjoyed the students that I saw as an [instructional aide], and then when I was a campus APS, on the whole campus, it was the environment I wanted to be in,” Gonzales said.

Whether she was volunteering as a biology technician in the Arctic, becoming a certified mindfulness instructor, or teaching high school biology, Aiko Michot said she has always had a passion for nature.

After going to community college for two years, Michot transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to get her bachelor’s degree in biology. Once she graduated from college, she worked in technology for five years. Michot said she didn’t feel fulfilled and decided to teach English in Japan for a year, where she discovered her passion for teaching.

“I did five years of [technology] and didn’t really feel fulfilled, so I left and I went to Japan to teach English. When I was in Japan, I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, I really like teaching!’” Michot said.
A year later, Michot moved back to the Bay Area and got her credentials for teaching at California State University, East Bay. Afterwards, she taught for a year in Union City at James Logan High School and later at Mills High School.

Michot said she built a strong connection with her students at Mills by letting them lead and make important decisions. By the end of the year, she said her Advanced Placement Biology students were practically leading the class.

“They were the ones that were making decisions about what we did. We had these environmental impact projects where they got to choose what they wanted to change about their school or their city or even their county or their state,” Michot said. “They got really involved; we had the mayor call us in and say, ‘Hey, we have $65,000 for climate change initiatives. How would you like to use these funds?’”

With the money the mayor gave them, Michot and her students hosted a school-wide event advocating for social justice and climate change awareness. Outside of teaching, Michot volunteered as a biology technician for several restoration projects. She worked as a field assistant in Alaska and Canada, where she counted and identified birds, recorded data, and set up cameras to track nesting. In Canada, she even did surveys from helicopters because the areas were too remote for planes to land in.

“It allows me to be a biologist for the summer, and it’s allowed me to travel to really neat places where there’s no way you can get there on your own,” Michot said. “I went to the Arctic, and I spent two summers up there, working out of a helicopter or living off a boat, just seeing these creatures like whales and polar bears and things that you would never be able to see even if you travel.”

In addition to having teaching credentials, Michot also became a certified mindfulness instructor in August 2017. She got her certification through a year-long program called Mindfulness Schools. At Burlingame, she said she often has her students practice one minute of mindfulness at the beginning of class.

“To me, mindfulness is science. It’s making observations, but instead of it being of the external world, it’s our internal world,” Michot said.

Michot said that her goal as a teacher is to use laptops as little as possible and be more hands-on, whether it be by having more labs or having students interact with each other.

“Ultimately, what I would love is for [students] to fall in love with nature and get curious and go out there and spend more time outside,” Michot said. “To go and investigate, to go and protect, and to be able to see that there’s an alternative to the way that we live our lives that can be really soothing, when we’re outside and we’re with other beings and away from all the concrete and away from all the technology and the busyness of life.”

New Spanish teacher Eduardo Garcia said he first recognized the influence of Spanish in a different environment during a school trip to Cuba in his junior year of high school.

“When I got to travel to Cuba, that was really great because I got to see how powerful Spanish was and talk with people from a completely different way of life in their language, and connected with them,” Garcia said.

Garcia said his trip to Cuba inspired him to prioritize Spanish, motivating him to educate others about the Spanish language. Garcia said this interest was further fueled by his experience at Occidental College, where he majored in Spanish.

“I was in college and realized that there were really big education gaps within certain socioeconomic and racial groups,” Garcia said. “I saw education as a way to support a wide variety of communities.”

Entering his third year of teaching, Garcia utilizes the i+1 principle, which suggests that students learn best when receiving material slightly above their level.

“The idea of comprehensible input, which essentially says you as a student know X amount, and I need to give you just a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more than what you already know, so you can keep on growing,” Garcia said.

However, Garcia said he balances his classes with this principle while still prioritizing the well-being of his students by making class fun.

“I feel like students at Burlingame are really stressed, and I can feel it sometimes that you all have high academic expectations,” Garcia said. “And so I definitely try to make things a lot more fun, and then also make things really interesting and relevant to your lives as well.”

Outside of school, Garcia said he is passionate about soccer and is Burlingame’s new boys’ freshman soccer coach. He also enjoys spending time with his community and family.

For the remainder of the school year, Garcia’s goal is to help students improve their Spanish skills.

“The big question that I have is, ‘How do I get students to speak more Spanish? How do I get students to talk to one another in Spanish?’” Garcia said. “That’s my big goal for the year.”

Originally, Spanish teacher Marie Rose Escoto was going to follow her family’s footsteps and pursue a legal profession. However, while studying communications and journalism in college, she said she discovered her love for teaching and decided to pursue that as her career instead.

“When you go interviewing people, you get to know people, and you learn more about different cultures, different things,” Escoto said. “I interviewed a professor, and he was talking about teaching and how he loved teaching and stuff like that. And it made me see it from a different perspective.”

Escoto said she first found success as an educator while in college as a tutor and a teaching assistant. After college, she got her first teaching job at a school in San Jose, and eventually started teaching at Aragon High School, where she taught for eight years before moving to Burlingame. Escoto said she greatly appreciates the resources provided by the San Mateo Union High School District.

“You can’t even compare it to the east side of San Jose; they barely have any resources there,” Escoto said. “So I was always impressed with what the district provides to the students, along with the teachers. Each of my kiddos has a Chromebook, we have Hapara, so everything is connected. And so it feels like this is the right place to be, everything is good and perfect.”

In her first few weeks of teaching, Escoto said she found a lot of similarity between the Burlingame and Aragon curricula.

“It’s about the same kiddos, so we have the same curriculum, and I’m also the World Language Content Lead for the district office. So I already knew about Burlingame High School. I already came and observed a lot of teachers here,” Escoto said.

So far, Escoto said she appreciates both the student life and the World Languages Department at Burlingame.

“I love the sense of community that the kids have together; they’ve known each other since elementary school or middle school,” Escoto said. “I love my department. It’s very supportive… they guide you and support you all the way, so that’s great, and the kids are very respectful.”

As someone with hearing loss, Lura Milner is working to create a more inclusive environment for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and 504 plans. Currently, Milner serves as a new “floating” math teacher who moves between different classrooms to provide support.

“There’s the obvious reason that I have a disability, so therefore I’m supporting that, but I think I’m just someone who wants to make sure that people are included, and that’s one way that I can do that,” Milner said.

Milner studied engineering mathematics as an undergraduate at the University of Arizona in Tucson and went to graduate school at Purdue University.

“In grad school, I studied Learning Design and Technology, which is basically how do we support learning and design, curriculum design with technology,” Milner said.

Milner said her degree taught her about creating personalized learning for students who need special arrangements and using assistive technology to help support a student’s impairment.

At previous schools where Milner worked, she managed cases of students with disabilities to ensure their accommodations were met. At Burlingame, Milner already gave a presentation to teachers on how to improve their curriculum for students with disabilities. Additionally, she said she hopes to provide more resources to support multilingual students.

In high school, Milner helped as a tutor for her peers. Encouraged to pursue teaching, she has since continued to work in that field.

“I never [taught] for a long time. But then a friend asked me to come teach a computer class at the adult school, so I started there, which then led me to teaching in other places,” Milner said.

After teaching at the adult school, Milner worked at continuation schools, independent study schools, private schools, and public schools, gaining over 20 years of teaching experience.

As one of Burlingame’s newest additions to its math department, Milner works part-time as a floating math teacher, meaning she doesn’t have a specific class that she teaches.

“I support by subbing in, by dropping in when needed, and I’m here after school in the student union slash library,” Milner said.

With her extensive experience as a tutor, teacher, and accessibility advocate, Milner said she is excited to be back at a comprehensive high school.

Bailey Van Buren always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Since both her grandparents were teachers before her, she said she hopes to carry on that legacy as Burlingame’s new ethnic studies teacher.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher and just help students bloom over the course of time that they have me,” Van Buren said.

Van Buren attended California Lutheran University, where she majored in history pedagogy, the study of teaching. Because she attended a small school, students were split into groups based on the major they were studying. She said the more personable environment shaped her teaching style in the classroom.

“It just felt really personable, versus big lecture halls, which I appreciate and which I try to give back to my students as well,” Van Buren said.

When she first came to Burlingame, Van Buren said she was excited to see her new students dive into the study of different cultures and learn more about each other.

“[Ethnic studies] has always been something that I’ve been interested in because you get to build such a classroom community by learning so many different things about each other and everyone bringing different assets to the classroom,” Van Buren said.

Van Buren added that she enjoys watching her students collaborate, connect, and understand other students’ perspectives throughout the class.

“I would say my favorite part is all the different sorts of students that we have in class, diving deep into their identity and their culture,” Van Buren said. “Really, having good discussions and seeing different perspectives from each other. So I get to learn from them, and they learn from each other.”

Van Buren said one of her goals for her first year at Burlingame is to become a part of the community. So far, she has already helped out with the Panther Pal event ‘Letter to your future self,’ which she said has helped her connect with students and staff.

“With it being my first year at Burlingame, I’m just getting used to the community and the school culture, and really making a place for myself here.” Van Buren said.

Inspired by her love for learning, English 2 and U.S. history teacher Kayla Wagonfeld plans to share that passion with her students at Burlingame.

As she grew older, Wagonfeld said she missed being in high school classrooms, learning from her teachers, and collaborating with her classmates.

“I feel like I love history and love English, and I really just love being able to share those subjects with students,” Wagonfeld said. “Having them have those moments where things click, or they’re really deep into characters, reminds me of a lot of the joy that I felt in high school as I was learning, and it’s really exciting to be able to cultivate those moments for students every day in the classroom.”

Before teaching at Burlingame, Wagonfeld received her master’s degree in history education from Harvard University and taught at a school in Boston. By teaching both English and U.S. history, Wagonfeld said she helps students create connections that broaden their understanding of the subject.

“I’m in a really unique position at Burlingame, because there’s actually no other teachers that are in two different departments,” Wagonfield said. “I already feel like I get to teach more different subjects than other teachers do. So I’m really enjoying that, and enjoying getting to be in two departments and be in two different pedagogies.”

So far, Wagonfield said her favorite part of Burlingame is the excitement and kindness students bring to school daily.

“I feel like the students bring so much energy and excitement into my classroom, and I think just so much care and kindness for their academics, but also for each other,” Wagonfeld said. “I feel like the pep rally was just such an awesome way to see students show up for one another in their grades.”

As a new teacher, Wagonfeld hopes to cultivate interest among her students in English and history.

“My goal in history is to be able to create a way for students to choose a particular part of history that they really care about and become experts in it,” Wagonfeld said. “With English, another goal I have is just for students to kind of love and appreciate reading and literature a little bit more.”

With 12 years of teaching experience, new English teacher Julian Cowan-Byrns said his focus is to help his students and foster relationships.

Despite initially intending to practice law, Byrns decided to pursue English to exercise his creativity. Byrns said his college professor inspired him to improve students’ lives the same way he wished he had been supported in high school.

“I had this teacher that I identified with, and she instilled this hope in me that I can affect people in different ways,” Byrns said.

Byrns said his favorite part of Burlingame is the students, who encourage him to make connections with them. One way he does this is by coaching the boys’ water polo team.

“It’s going to be the students that keep me young. They keep everything fresh and fun,” Byrns said. “Of course, I love to teach English, but what I really love and I’m learning to do is coach.”

His goal this year is to be a part of the community and make his classes enjoyable. Byrns added that he hopes to guide students towards self-discovery rather than simply feeding them information.

“There’s so much pressure here,” Byrns said. “Y’all are still children. I wish I could be a child again, and sometimes we lose that innocence too soon.”

Byrns advises students to find security in their individuality.

“Don’t let other people define who you are. Use your experiences to your advantage. Everything in life has meaning,” Byrns said.

Outside of teaching, Byrns enjoys spending time with his wife, playing sports, and playing video games, particularly Elden Ring, a role-playing adventure game.

“It’s just a form of escapism,” Byrns said. “Stuff can be troubling you, and then you just need to be able to get out of it.”

Abigail Wolfenden’s connection to Burlingame runs deep. Although she did not attend the high school, she grew up in the city and had several friends who did. This year, Wolfenden is back in her hometown to teach English at Burlingame.

In high school, Wolfenden described herself as shy and introverted, though she was heavily involved in lacrosse. She said her passion for English started early, eventually leading her to study the subject in college.

“I’ve always loved books growing up, and English was always a subject that I felt excited about,” Wolfenden said. “I felt I always had the most space to question things and to talk about big picture ideas.”

Along with her enthusiasm for English, her studies in English and Spanish at Haverford College helped shape her skills and prepared her for a future in teaching.

“That’s definitely what inspired me to teach, because I love studying literature, regardless of whether it’s English literature or Spanish,” Wolfenden said. “I’ve always loved working with kids, too, so it paired nicely to become an English teacher.”

Outside of academics, Wolfenden played Division III lacrosse at Haverford. She said the experience allowed her to develop valuable leadership and teamwork skills she could use with her students.

“I played lacrosse at Haverford College; it was a really great experience,” Wolfenden said. “That was [Division] III that I played for four years, and I’m excited to coach it at BHS. I also coach for a club called Steps lacrosse, which is a travel team.”

After college, Wolfenden taught second grade for two years. Although she said she enjoyed teaching elementary school, Wolfenden wanted to focus on English Language Arts, so she earned her master’s degree at Stanford. Last year, she taught at Aragon High School as a student teacher, and now begins her first year at Burlingame.

“My ultimate goal as a teacher is to help students, help you all become the best humans that you can be, and become also global citizens in our global society who are contributing in really positive and meaningful way,” Wolfenden said.

Wolfenden said she hopes to utilize her skills to help her students grow and make a positive impact on society. She said her love for literature shapes her approach to teaching, creating a classroom where students can share stories and explore new perspectives.

“I loved reading about different characters, different experiences, and being able to take different perspectives,” Wolfenden said. “That carried me all the way through college, that interest, and I’m hoping to impart that on my students as well, and seeing literature as an opportunity to have windows into the wider world through different characters, but also have mirrors for themselves so they can see themselves in literature too.”

By having the ability to distinguish strengths and weaknesses, Wolfenden hopes to help students accomplish their goals and follow their passions.

“It’s important to acknowledge individual goals that each student has, and how I can support them individually,” Wolfenden said. “I feel that’s why we switch up how we organize and structure class; sometimes we’ll do the whole class discussion. Other times it’s partner talk, group work, or team building.”

Recognizing each student’s individual goal, Wolfenden said she aims to encourage students to grow into confident individuals who feel supported both inside and outside the classroom. She looks forward to connecting with students and contributing positively to the community.

“All the students are super awesome,” Wolfendon said. “I really like the school spirit and the sense of community that you have here. The students are all caring and have really strong senses.”

Alba Castaneda has spent the past 10 years guiding people in school counseling and therapy. This year, she joined Burlingame as a new counselor.

Castaneda said she defied expectations from a young age, describing herself as “tomboyish” when she was a child. Later, in her mid-20s, she said she continued to challenge norms by being the first in her family to immigrate to the U.S. from Mexico.

“I felt there was a lot more freedom in the U.S. to be who you are, to be different, to want different things, to present as you are,” Castaneda said.

According to Castaneda, once she moved to Chicago, Illinois, she had to adjust to the cultural differences.

“It’s also harder to make friends here; people are more cautious,” Castaneda said. “In Chicago, eventually, I found a great community, but it took me a little bit longer to adjust to being in a new country.”

Before pursuing school counseling, Castaneda said she wanted to work in the mental health field, serving as a translator for Mujeres Latinas en Acción, a domestic violence counseling agency. She began volunteering for a youth group connected to that agency, where she worked directly with teens. Eventually, she said this led her to pursue counseling in schools.

“I kind of really just stumbled upon [counseling],” Castaneda said. “It was a calling… I just wasn’t sure in my early 20s, and then I figured it out through education and certain jobs.”

Castanada said she applied to Burlingame for its counseling team, diversity, and the district’s reputation.

“I wanted to feel like that next level of professionalism, where I’m working with school counselors that know what they’re doing, and they’re experts in the field,” Castanada said. “I also heard that the union is one of the best in the state.”

Since joining Burlingame, Castaneda said her favorite part is the supportive and friendly community of staff and students.

“It was very overwhelming, but I felt very supported by my team; they are so amazing,” Castaneda said. “The kids are awesome… I’ve had kids that just come and say hi. They’re like, ‘Hey, we know you’re new, and I wanted to introduce myself,’ so it’s a very friendly, very kind environment, both staff and students.”

This year, ​​Castaneda said her professional goal is to “learn the system” by adapting to new faces, events, and Burlingame as a school. At the same time, her personal goal is to start a Latinx club.

“I want kids that are Latinx origin to feel like there’s people like them in the building, that they feel represented and seen and heard,” Castaneda said.

Throughout his childhood, new counselor Ted Brugman said he never knew what he wanted to do when he grew up. It wasn’t until he moved to Colorado after college that he found a career in education and counseling.

“I graduated college, got in a car with my best friend, and we drove to Colorado with no idea, having never been out west and not really having a job,” Brugman said.

Before becoming a counselor, Brugman worked as a special education teacher for five years in Colorado.

Brugman said he switched careers because he enjoys listening to and supporting other people’s stories. For Brugman, this interest stemmed from the love and support he received at Proctor Academy, the private prep school he attended in New Hampshire.

“I really valued those supportive people, and in particular at Proctor, I felt deeply supported,” Brugman said. “It was really important to me and absolutely one of the reasons why I ended up gravitating towards this field.”

Interest was not the only factor that brought Brugman to counseling. He said his communication and interpersonal skills also helped him pursue the field.

“My strength is working and interacting with diverse human beings, and that’s what I enjoy,” Brugman said.

Now in his 17th year of working in education, Brugman is Burlingame’s interventionist counselor. The role combines the responsibilities of a wellness and academic counselor to support students in all sorts of capacities.

In addition to counseling, Brugman said he looks forward to teaching Career Planning and Life Exploration, a class designed to help students understand how career choices will affect their lifestyles.

As he adapts to a new environment, Brugman said he is grateful to the community for being so welcoming.

“People have been overwhelmingly warm and kind … I felt really welcomed,” Brugman said. “So I would like to thank the community for that feeling.”

Most five-year-olds might respond “astronaut” or “movie star” when asked what they want to be when they grow up, but even at that young age, new Algebra 2 and Precalculus teacher Nathaniel Garcia knew what he wanted to do: attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and earn a Ph.D. in math.

“No one in my family went to college. They don’t know where I heard of MIT. They don’t know where I got the idea that that was where you go if you want to do math,” said Garcia. “It’s just always been me. Some people are born with a ‘you know what you’re put on this planet to do.’ For me, that was math.”

Just as five-year-old Garcia hoped, he ended up going to MIT for his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and then to the University of California, Irvine for his Ph.D.

Before starting his graduate work, however, Garcia completed an education training to get his teaching credentials, as he recognized that many college researchers would be expected to teach alongside producing research.

Garcia said he noticed that many college professors didn’t know how to effectively teach.

“A lot of professors just don’t understand what it looks like to communicate well, and I did not want to be that kind of professor,” Garcia said. “So I went through education training. I got a teaching credential with zero intention to use it at a high school level.”

During his graduate program at University of California, Irvine, Garcia said mathematics was providing an “isolated experience,” rather than the connection he desired.

“There were days that I spent in my office with zero other human contact, and I was at a point in my life where that wasn’t the direction that I was trying to grow in,” Garcia said. “I was at a point in my life when I was 24 and my brother had just gotten through cancer. Both my grandparents in Mexico City had passed away, my mom had lost her job, and so I was like, I need to be present for my family, I want to have relationships. I want to be in the community.”

Garcia said he came to realize that the path he was on did not align with the person he wanted to be.

“I was just like, I can’t want to be this type of person and be spending all of my time in this way,” Garcia said. “So I left my Ph.D. program and decided that I was going to teach high school instead, and I’ve really enjoyed the community I get to build as a high school teacher.”

Garcia said that, while he was in high school, he never felt much pressure to do well academically. He said he found that this allowed him the freedom to pave his own path.

“I always knew what I wanted, because I was given the space to determine that for myself,” Garcia said.

Garcia said his experience in high school has, by extension, impacted his view of school and his approach to teaching.

“When I’m interacting with students as people, it’s not about math, it’s about you as a person,” Garcia said. “Your life is so much bigger than your grades.”