Inclusivity, equal opportunity and accessibility — these words describe the vision new assistant principal Karen Bioski-Simon has for Burlingame. The emphasis placed on these values was not without reason, as they reflect Bioski-Simon’s personal struggles she faced in high school.

Growing up, neither of Bioski-Simon’s parents attended college and with no college counseling at her high school or parents with knowledge regarding the admissions process, it led to massive setbacks and hardships during her college navigation and admissions process. 

“There were times growing up that I did not feel included in the education system,” Bioski-Simon said. “It didn’t feel expected for me to go to college.”

Even though people around Bioski-Simon supported and encouraged her through the college process, Bioski-Simon felt there was still a barrier that prevented her from being a part of college-related conversations. 

“My mom in particular was really nervous to go to [my] school because she did not have a degree and felt excluded from that community,” Bioski-Simon said.

Bioski-Simon credits the majority of help in the college navigation process to her friends’ families. They familiarized her with the general admissions process, took her on college tours and helped with applications, leading Bioski-Simon to land a spot at Northeastern University.

Now, working as an administrator at Burlingame, Bioski-Simon is determined to create the school environment she needed when she was in high school  — a school inclusive of everyone while also providing students with the resources they need. 

“I was the first person in my family to go to college and I didn’t understand that process,” Bioski-Simon said. “I want to make that opportunity more accessible to students.

Currently, Bioski-Simon is working to achieve this and has started to move forward with her plans, starting with providing emotional support for students.

“I’m working closely with our counseling team and our other teams to oversee interventions and support for students,” Bioski-Simon said. “[And] improving and building on the amazing foundations that we have in support of [students].”

While at Burlingame, one of Bioski-Simon’s top priorities is to familiarize herself with the new community. 

“I want to know about all the programs that we have and go to a whole bunch of different athletic games and arts performances,” Bioski-Simon said. “I’m [so] excited to get to know people and their goals for the school.”

Although it’s only her first year and first few months at Burlingame, Bioski-Simon already feels the warm and welcoming environment.

“The students [and the adults] have been so kind and welcoming,” Bioski-Simon said. “This is a place I have felt included right from the beginning and that is really special.”

Teaching Special Education runs in Kacie Hill’s family. As a second-generation Special Education teacher, in her first year at Burlingame, Hill is teaching Guided Studies, Algebra and co-teaching Biology with Kelsey Fjell-Walton. 

“I think there’s a lot of joy in the school environment and space for creativity and fun,” Hill said. 

Hill worked as an aide and substitute teacher at Capuchino High School before coming to Burlingame to work in the special education department full-time. 

“There’s a lot of time and space in special ed to build those relationships and keep the connections going for multiple years, which feels rewarding,” Hill said. 

Hill didn’t just enter special education to follow in her mom’s footsteps. She also appreciates the unique opportunity to form close bonds with her students. 

“I like the one-on-one time with kids and I think I get to build a lot of relationships with students in a way that I wouldn’t in a larger class,” Hill said.  

Hill grew up in the Bay Area and attended the University of California Santa Cruz, where she majored in Psychology and minored in Education. 

Beyond teaching, Hill also maintains a strong passion for music. In fact, she isn’t just an avid listener — she sings in a band located in San Francisco. 

“It is a big joy outside of school,” Hill said. “I get to travel and play shows with my very best friends and it’s just so much fun. I get to write music and it’s lots, lots and lots of joy.”

Much like teaching, Hill’s love of music was inspired by family. Her father was a musician and surrounded her with music from a young age.

“I think music and teaching are both two things that I’ve loved so much in my life,” Hill said. “I’m trying to live a life where I get to do both of those things that I enjoy so it’s a busy schedule, but it’s rewarding, and I think it’s worth it.”

Jessica Chan has known since middle school that her future would revolve around either public health or education. But it wasn’t until recently that she found a job merging both of her interests. 

Growing up, Chan’s favorite subject was biology and that quickly translated into a passion for public health. Initially, a focus on public health dictated her internships and college path, but while studying at the University of California, Berkeley, she saw a future emerging in the education field.

“I directed a literacy program for elementary students so that they could actually reach their target reading level and I taught sex ed to high schools that don’t have sex ed,” Chan said. 

After college, Chan was forced to pick a path: go into public health or become a biology teacher by pursuing a master’s degree in education. 

“I let fate take it,” Chan said. “I was like, ‘Which one is going to be more fun to me?’, and that’s how I got into teaching.”

Now, in her fourth year of teaching, Chan is sure that she took the right path and is happy to be at Burlingame, where she has felt welcomed by both students and colleagues.

“I was really surprised to find so much positivity and eagerness to be in school,” Chan said.

In return, Chan hopes to bring Burlingame students the support and education she feels they deserve. 

“I want to support [my students] because I know that they have different needs, and they come from different backgrounds and experiences,” Chan said. 

After 20 years of running global training programs for United Airlines, Dawn Kawamura has returned to her high school passion: mathematics. You can find her in room C112 teaching Algebra 2 and Integrated math 2. 

“Math was my favorite subject in high school,” Kawamura said. “But when I went to high school, there didn’t seem like a whole lot of options for me in math, different time.” 

More specially, the male-dominated aspect of the field deterred her from majoring in math in college. Instead, she pivoted toward liberal arts.

“I was interested in international relations, which led me to political science,” Kawamura said. “ I took Spanish in school, and I studied abroad in Spain, so I added [Spanish and Iberian studies] once I got to school, but I’ve always loved math.”

After earning her bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Iberian studies and Political Science and Government at Boston College, Kawamura became a senior instructure leading customer service, onboarding, safety and security training at airports and contact centers. 

“I did corporate training for adults, still in the classroom, but in a very different environment,” Kawamura said. “There were really high stakes: they had to learn [the material] or else they wouldn’t be hired.”

The job also required Kawamura to be on the move — in total,she traveled to over 20 international and 30 domestic locations throughout her career.

“I used to love [traveling],” Kawamura said. “But once you have kids, to be away from home, it got a little out of control… Last year, I was literally on the move every single week.”

Drained by constant traveling and more confident in the opportunities available to female math majors, Kawamura decided to pursue her masters and teaching credentials at California State University, Bakersfield. 

“When COVID hit, [United] didn’t need a lot of training.” Kawamura said. “So I retired but decided I didn’t want to fully retire. I went back and got my credential, my masters, and decided to start teaching high school.”

Back in her teenage years at Notre Dame High School, you would find Celeste Thomas at every typical high school event — from rallies to football games, she was a constant presence in the stands.

“I was pretty social then,” Thomas said. “You could always find me at one of those high school events.” 

Now, Thomas enters another high school environment and her 10th year of teaching as the new special education teacher of Burlingame’s Bay University program. Thomas never went far from the area, and recently taught at other schools around the county. 

“I actually came from Mountain View and I later taught at Mountain View High School,” Thomas said. “I taught at Palo Alto High School as well and both for special education. I focused on the same population of students, which were moderate to severe disabilities and students that are not on diploma track.” 

Before beginning her career in special education, Thomas studied kinesiology at California State University, Sacramento without a set career plan. 

“I loved kinesiology,” Thomas said. “But then I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do once I finished kinesiology. So I began volunteering for sports teams, but I just didn’t find myself as happy as I thought I was going to be.”

During that time of uncertainty and hesitancy, Thomas began volunteering in another career field: special education.  

“My sister’s a special education teacher, and I started volunteering in her class,” Thomas said. “It was then I felt like I found my passion.” 

Through this new journey, volunteering was a crucial part in helping Thomas to explore her new passion without the commitment of a new career, allowing Thomas to shape who she is today.

“Volunteering gave me a lot of opportunity and experience,” Thomas said. “I really hadn’t worked with people with disabilities in the past, and so it opened up a whole new world for me.” 

As a new member of the Panther family, Thomas hopes to bring Bay University into the community in a way that special education students often aren’t.

“I felt like there was always a gap when growing up because I didn’t see many students in my classes with disabilities,” Thomas said. “And so really trying to make sure that people know that these types of people exist is important. Just because they learn differently or they look differently, everyone is still valued in the community.”

Although Bay University runs on a slightly different schedule than the other students of Burlingame, Thomas still hopes that both sides can learn to support each other. 

“Even though we have different schedules and paths, everyone’s working towards the same goal, which is being a meaningful, functional adult in the community,” Thomas said. “I hope to do my best to help students build their independence and find their place in the community.”  

As she adjusts to Burlingame, Thomas emphasizes the value of a tight-knit community.

“The community is super, super welcoming,” Thomas said. “Even if I don’t know half the people on the quad, they always say hi to me. Our program also has a really tight, family feel, and everyone feels like they belong and are valued.” 

In her free time, Thomas enjoys spending time with her two daughters and going to the beach with them. 

Back when Malcolm Davis played football and basketball as a Viking at Palo Alto High School, it’s doubtful he ever saw himself donning the red and white of a Panther. But Davis’ loyalties could be changing. This fall, Davis has started his new position as a health teacher at Burlingame. 

“It’s pretty split, but it’s leaning more panther pride,” Davis said.

While in college Davis studied kinesiology — the scientific study of human body movement — and played football at California Polytechnic State University. After college Davis became a coach.

“A coach I was working with was like ‘you should try and get a job at the school too, so you can be here all day,’” Davis said.

When considering teaching it was clear that he wanted to teach physical education due to  studying health promotion in college.

 “I learned a lot about staying healthy and promoting health so I think it was natural to go into that field.” Davis said.

His first experience teaching PE was chaotic. 

“You have a bunch of freshmen running around. You’re just trying to figure out how to get them all to sit down and be quiet.” Davis said.

He felt like teaching was just the trajectory he was on. 

“I felt that I was somebody who would be able to connect with students in a positive way and be a teacher that they appreciate and that they enjoy having.” Davis said. 

Now Davis has been teaching health and PE for four years with three of them in the San Mateo High School district.

“Favorite part about BHS so far is definitely the resources and how open everyone is to helping… The kids are great.” He said. 

Another perk, he added, was the access to good phone service.

 “Other schools I work at haven’t had really good cell phone service either, but BHS has a good bar, so that’s good,” Davis said.

Along with teaching health at Burlingame, Davis also leads weightlifting classes at Aragon High School. 

Outside of school, Davis enjoys trying new restaurants, music and staying healthy. He also maintains a lifelong passion for football as his father played in the NFL for the Chicago Bears, and then coached our very own 49ers. 

“I’m more of a Chicago Bears fan.” Davis said.

For this year, Davis hopes to continue improving as a teacher. 

“You always have room to grow no matter how many years you’ve worked,” Davis said. “There’s always things you can improve, lessons you can improve on.”

Organized, on top of things and caring are all ways Burlingame’s new wellness counselor Wendy Daniels describes her work ethic. Determined to contribute to the Burlingame community, Daniels says she’s committed to “building a space where students can come in and feel comfortable.”

Community and caring for others have always been important to Daniels, who grew up in Los Angeles and had a calling at a young age to help others in the mental health and wellness space. She acknowledged that she was quiet and shy in high school, but learned to come out of her shell by giving guidance and confidence to students as a counselor. 

“Growing up I realized that there was a huge need for support most importantly, or at least for me, in the community and the community that I grew up in,” Daniels said. “I felt that there was a huge need for mental health providers that look like me today. And so that was something that I felt was really needed in our community. That’s what inspired me.”

After studying the mental health field more broadly, Daniels narrowed her interest toward applying her knowledge in schools.

“As I got to learn more about the mental health field and how it can be applied in schools, that was something that I was really passionate about,” Daniels said. 

Daniels obtained a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in criminal justice from San Francisco State University. She then attended Cal State East Bay to get her master’s degree in social work. Daniels’ first job was at a nonprofit agency where she worked for 15 years with a variety of children and contributing mental health assistance. 

Through her work, Daniels aims to build bonds with students, with the end goal of improving their mental health. She enjoys connecting with people on a deeper level and providing a safe space at all times. 

Daniels feels that she has a unique understanding of students because of her close relationship with her daughter, who she spends a lot of time with. 

“I hang out with my daughter in my freetime. I have an 11-year-old girl and so she still wants to hang out with me. So I enjoy doing that and taking our dogs for a walk,” Daniels said.

Although it is only her first year at Burlingame, Daniels already feels like a member of Burlingame’s caring community and wellness team.

“The community and the administrators have been very welcoming, especially staff,” Daniels said. “I’m blending more with the community and it seems like there’s a lot of people here who care about students.”

All it took was one class, and one professor, to change Robert Thurtle from a self-described “punk rocker” to a scholar, English major and teacher.

“I was that kid that didn’t talk in class, I was really quiet,” Thurtle said. “When I was in high school I was a punk rocker, so I kind of took pride in not really being engaged with things on campus.”

But a single professor at University of California, Santa Barbara, completely changed Thurtle’s academic outlook.

“This one teacher, Professor Gardner, he singled me out in class and made sure that I was participating, that I was engaged, that I was prepared for class,” Thurtle said. “That really changed everything for me.” 

Now, after graduate school at the University of Rochester and multiple other teaching jobs, including one at Aragon High School, Thurtle is happy to have found his way to Burlingame.

“I’ve been just really grateful for having a really great group of students this year, and they’ve been really forgiving as I’ve been trying to figure this all out,” Thurtle said. “I’m thankful for my colleagues and I’m just thrilled to be here.” 

Sanjevi Subbiah, a seasoned math teacher and coach of wrestling and football, is a long-term substitute this year for math teacher Carol Hardesty. With almost 45 years of experience teaching in different student environments, Subbiah is excited to be here at Burlingame High School.

“This is the sixteenth school I’ve taught at. I taught affluent kids in Arizona, lived on Native American reservations, taught those kids, and then last year I taught at a charter school which were kids from all the immigrant families that work in farms,” Subbiah said.

During his time teaching in underprivileged schools, Subbiah observed how a student’s environment affects the opportunities they receive.

“After teaching in different places, I see the advantages and disadvantages kids have. It’s almost unfair to point out that if you live in a poor neighborhood you end up going to schools that have to deal with drugs and violence,” Subbiah said.

For students who might struggle to engage academically, Subbiah emphasized the importance of a personable teacher who can establish a real connection and relationship.

“Because a lot of times I see the issue with the teachers that don’t have the people skills, people skills are important to help engage your student, to keep them out of the bad stuff,” Subbiah said.

Subbiah has experienced the “bad stuff” firsthand. He once had to disarm a kid with a firearm. Another time he had to break up a fight where a kid was stabbing a girl. He views Burlingame as a “sanctuary” and encourages many kids here to learn to appreciate what their school offers.  

But not all the responsibility falls on students, Subbiah said. He would also advise teachers to expand their role in the community.

“If I was like the king for one day that would make every teacher, coach do something or be involved in some kind of a club. So they see that outside [of a student].” Subbiah said. 

In his mind, Subbiah says that building relationships is the best way to help your students grow. “You want to build relationships with [the students] to help them,” Subbiah said.

Subbiah has not only had a successful teaching career, but he has had an impressive coaching career as well, with players who went on to play Division I football, wrestle in the NCAA championships, and even compete in the Olympics.

Walking into C108, As a kid, Nisha Desai loved problem solving. 

“I always was interested in teaching and in math,” Desai said. “My mom was actually a junior high teacher.” 

Inspired by her mother, Desai chose to become a teacher, by pursuing her mathematical teaching credentials. After obtaining her credentials, she landed her first job at Burlingame. 

“It’s my first year teaching and it’s been really great.” Desai said. “Honestly, all of my students are amazing and they just made everything so much easier for me.”

In high school, Desai noticed that when she made meaningful connections with teachers, she subsequently performed better in their class. This year, she aims to emulate that environment in her classroom.

“I want to leave this year feeling like I know every student, and that I did everything I could to support that student,” Desai said. “[I’m trying to] get to know my students [as more than] just a student in my class, but also who [they’re like] as a person.”

Desai also aims to create an exploratory environment with her students by prompting students to solve problems through open ended questions, pushing them to think outside the box.

“I’ve already learned so much from my students from [teaching in an exploratory way],” Desai said. “They’ll come up with ways to solve things that I never even thought about.”

As a first year teacher Desai is constantly learning and adapting to her teaching environment in the fast paced high school classroom. 

“There’s so many little things that I didn’t even think about,” she said. “[Such as], what [I’m] going to do with phones, and where to put the materials in the classroom.”

 Outside of the classroom Desai enjoys spending time solving puzzles such as Rubik’s cubes while also spending time in nature hiking in forests.

Desai emphasized the supportive environment she’s encountered since coming to Burlingame.

“I think everyone here is just so supportive,” Desai said. “It’s a really sweet environment to be in and I’ve just never felt like I don’t have anyone to turn to for help.”

Due to a lifelong interest in English, Gregory McGarry was destined to become an English teacher. 

Growing up, McGarry watched his mom teach English at Lowell High School in San Francisco. She encouraged him to pursue his interest in the literary arts.

While in high school, McGarry discovered an interest in poetry while performing at Youth Speaks, a poetry conference for young people located in the San Francisco area.

“I got to meet famous poets like Lawrence Wright and meet a bunch of kids from all over the city,” McGarry said. “It was a great experience, even if my poetry hadn’t found its voice, per se. I wasn’t [writing] anything I liked, but I did know that I liked being involved in poetry.”

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, McGarry volunteered at Washington High School, then began his official career in the San Francisco Union High School District. While in the district, McGarry focused on  teaching English to immigrant students.

“A lot of these kids are helping their parents and families to navigate legal issues around immigration or employment,” McGarry said. “When you’re helping kids access English, [it has] an impact on the whole family.”

This year at Burlingame, McGarry is working part-time as an English 1 and Advanced Standing English 2 teacher while he concurrently pursues his Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of San Francisco.

“I think it’s important for teachers to continue to study and improve their own separate knowledge,” McGarry says. “Not just to work on the craft of teaching, but to reignite their love for the subject so they can transfer [that] passion to their students.”

Although he only teaches for half of the day, McGarry’s time at Burlingame has been positive. 

“The kids are great and engaged for the most part,” McGarry said. “[They] have been prepared well for school and are self-reliant — which is impressive since they’ve bounced back [from online school].”

McGarry said Burlingame’s high funding distinguishes it from other schools he’s taught at.

“[Here,] teachers are more cooperative with each other [and] students have resources if they need them,” McGarry said. “I think being in a well funded district, with resources available to all is the most important thing.”

After teaching for seven years, McGarry’s passion for writing poetry is as strong as ever. It remains a frequent and beloved hobby, alongside composing music on his guitar, and spending time outdoors with his fluffy white dog, Ghost. McGarry is also a big fan of soccer, especially of England’s Chelsea Football Club. 

By the end of the year, McGarry hopes to both prepare his students for future English courses while also ensuring that they enjoy the class.

“I want my freshmen to feel confident and those who think they don’t like this class to think ‘Hmm, I can do this,’” McGarry said. “For my sophomores, who are in honors, [I want them to] keep some of that joy that makes English and poetry fun. There’s moments of discussion or revelation that aren’t formalized, aren’t even necessarily graded, and yet stick with you long after you graduate.”