Striving Toward Equitable Communities - Employee Recognitions
Striving Toward Equitable Communities
At East Side, perhaps now more than ever, we need to strive toward Equitable Communities as we pivot toward distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. But what does this mean? It means that we are continuing to strengthen our understanding, actions, and policies in order to continue building capacity among all staff members to ensure that equity and inclusion are essential principles of our school system.

It is incumbent on each and every one of us as employees of East Side to be committed to these principles, from myself as superintendent, to our teachers, PCIS, attendance clerks, directors, maintenance and operation, and so forth. It takes all of us to achieve success for our students! As coined by philosopher Aristotle, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, which aptly describes us as a team joined together in this monumental effort.

Every month, we will be recognizing our employees in order to showcase the people behind our student success! Below are examples of our employees creating Equitable Communities at East Side Union High School District.

Thank you for all that you do!

With gratitude,
Chris D. Funk
Superintendent
Cristine LaMontagne
Independence High School
English Department/Freshman Transition Teacher

People Behind ESUHSD's Success:

  1. How many years have you worked for ESUHSD/IHS? 12 years (2 years at IHS).
  2. What do you like most about your job? I love being able to highlight student strengths and accomplishments, and seeing students proud of themselves. I love sharing stories from around the world that focus on resilience, hope, and overcoming obstacles to help them think about who they are and who they want to be.
  3. How do you know when you have made a difference? I know I have made a difference when I see students engaged in the learning experience because they understand the learning process should make them feel good, not bad! They understand mistakes are part of the process; it becomes common practice for students to share their work with the class, in order to improve it collaboratively.
  4. What is something that people may not know about you? Playing taiko (Japanese drums) has been a huge part of my life! At 20 years old, I played professionally and toured with San Jose Taiko. At 29, I became the first and oldest American female accepted into a male-dominated performing arts apprenticeship in Japan. I learned first-hand how a fast-paced, extremely challenging, and difficult to understand learning environment can make you feel. Undoubtedly, one of the greatest experiences of my life, those challenges have influenced my drive to create an inclusive, collaborative, and supportive learning environment for my students.

Kudos from the Principal:
Dr. LaMontagne has a gift for helping students find their voices, their confidence, and gain an understanding of their learning process. She is intentional in her instructional choices and able to help students find greater success as a result of the care and challenges she provides.” - Bjorn Berg, Principal 
Kavita Atwal
Andrew P. Hill High School
School Psychologist

People Behind ESUHSD's Success:

  1. How many years have you worked for ESUSHD? 3 years.
  2. What do you like most about your job? I love our AHHS team! I truly enjoy collaborating with others with the common goal of helping ALL students.
  3. How do you know when you have made a difference? When students smile or say hello as I pass them by, I know I've made a positive connection with them. That means the most to me in my career.
  4. What is something that people may not know about you? My mom was born in Kenya and my dad was born in India. Both grew up in England, and moved to Los Angeles after they got married. I think that's what has led to my love of travel and learning about other cultures!

Kudos from the Director of Special Services:
"I would like to recognize School Psychologist, Dr. Kavita Atwal, for her work toward building equitable communities. Dr. Atwal recently co-wrote the chapter, "Bullying Prevention for Asian American Families: Collaboration with School Districts and Community Organizations" in the published text, Trauma and Racial Minority Immigrants: Turmoil, Uncertainty, and Resistance by Pratyusha Tummala-Narra. Dr. Atwal named ESUHSD as her academic organization for this publication. In addition to her scholarly work, Kavita Atwal is a dedicated, caring school psychologist who supports students throughout the District but primarily at Andrew Hill High School." - Dr. Sharon A. Cavallaro, Director of Special Services
Angelica Heredia
Mt. Pleasant High School
Registrar

People Behind ESUHSD's Success:

  1. How many years have you worked for ESUHSD? 25+ years.
  2. What do you like most about your job? My boss allows me to innovate over my responsibilities.
  3. How do you know when you have made a difference? I know when I made a difference is when I transferred my knowledge to others. Even if I don't work directly one can improve the work environment for yourself and others. One way is to build a sense of community and connection with not just your co-workers but with parents and students.
  4. What is something that people may not know about you? At work, I don't like having papers all over the desk (clean and neat) and I enjoy having plants. In my personal life, I have 2 kids, and am the 6th sibling of a family of 8. I like to listen to all genres of music.

Kudos from the APED:
"Ms. Heredia is a valuable member of our Cardinal family. In her role as registrar, she is our ambassador to the community and we could not ask for a more caring and dedicated person to work with the families that we serve. She is attentive to our students' and families' needs and provides them with equitable support. We can count that she will follow up until the job is completed and completed well! She is also very creative and is always finding ways to improve the processes to make them more effective and accessible to all. Ms. Heredia is a pillar of our school and we are thankful for all her contributions to make us a more equitable community." - Dr. Adriana Rangel, APED  
Rey Enriquez
Piedmont Hills High School
Math Teacher/Math ITL

People Behind ESUHSD's Success:

  1. How many years have you worked for ESUSHD/PHHS? 22 years in ESUHSD and at PHHS.
  2. What do you like most about your job? Preparing the lesson excites me. Because the anticipation of the actual teaching day would provide me the opportunity to talk about the one subject in the world that I am so passionate about. I love to share my unique interpretations of the content based on my collective experiences and reflections. I remember the joys and struggles that I had when I was a student trying to learn the concept for the very first time. And I want my students to have the same experience. Teaching allows me to bridge the concept to the scientific background background and possible applications. Teaching allows me to take the constructive feedback from my hundreds of students that I interacted with in the past and make it part of how I put my plan into action. Before the day ends, I like how I can reflect and assess the activities that have happened in the classroom. This gives me the chance to focus on what can be done to improve. As I move on to the next lesson, I feel lucky to be immersed into the whole cycle of excitement once more.
  3. How do you know when you have made a difference? I know that I have made a difference when students come back for a visit during their term breaks in college. It is such a thrill when they share their academic experiences and they thank you for preparing them with the actual concepts or foundational concepts. I am overjoyed when they express their appreciation of the hard work they have given in my class, and how this has made their adjustments to college work somewhat easier. A few of my students have admitted that they would want to go to teaching after being in my class. I take that as a huge compliment.
  4. What is something that people may not know about you? I played in the open summer basketball leagues. This annual event was locally and commercially sponsored in the town where I grew up in the Philippines. I played for three consecutive summers in high school.

Kudos from the Principal:
"Bringing social-emotional learning and creating a welcoming classroom culture in all classrooms, but especially the math classrooms at PHHS has been a primary goal of mine since I became principal three years ago. Rey has been my thought partner throughout this journey. He is not afraid to challenge me but at the same time is able to take my vision and translate it into a language that his department will understand and respond to. Most recently this was converting grade data into a chi square analysis. It was amazing. I so admire Rey’s passion about teaching math and doing it in an inclusive and equitable way." - Ginny Davis, Principal
BaoVy Nguyen
Andrew P. Hill High School
Head Counselor

People Behind ESUHSD's Success:

  1. How many years have you worked for ESUHSD? 23 years (18 years at AHHS).
  2. What do you like most about your job? I like being able to support and encourage our students to achieve their goals and realize their dreams. I like working with the Andrew Hill staff to support our students in achieving their academic, social, and career goals.
  3. How do you know when you have made a difference? When former students come back to visit and thank me for the guidance throughout their high school years. I recently learned that one of my former students is working at the VA hospital in Palo Alto. She is my my husband's colleague in the nursing department and they recognized each other. What a joy! It is ecstatics to hear news like that because it gives me the strength to continue. For current students, it's when they walk across the stage to receive their diploma. I rejoice with them because we both know how much perseverance and hard work they have to put in.
  4. What is something that people may not know about you? I don't drink, but I collect shot glasses. I have over 150 shot glasses collected from all the places I visited or were give to me by friends.

Kudos from the Principal:
"BaoVy has done a great job of sharing her positive energy with our entire Counseling Department since returning as our Head Counselor. There is nothing that she is not willing to try in order to support students. At the end of the 2019-20 school year one of our Counselors accepted the Head Counselor position and had to leave the Class of 2021. BaoVy accepted the challenge of being the Senior Class Counselor again to limit the impact on the rest of the Counseling Team. 

At the start of the second semester BaoVy was concerned with the number of seniors at risk of not graduating. She reached out and convinced 3 seniors to come on-campus in order to complete their work on the days she works from campus (3-4 days a week). We are lucky to have such a positive and supportive member in our Falcon Family. Thank you!" - Jose Hernandez, Principal  
Shobhana Singh
Evergreen Valley High School
Special Education Teacher

People Behind ESUHSD's Success:

  1. How many years have you worked at Evergreen Valley High School? 4.5 years.
  2. What do you like most about your job? The list is endless for things that I am grateful for here at EV. Everyday is a new opportunity and a new chance for me and my students. Knowing that you can improve your students' lives in just the slightest manner really brightens my day, and I feel like I really can make a change in some people's lives. Additionally, I'm so grateful for all my kind and and wonderful colleagues that are always there to support me in times of need, and are always willing to help. Without them, EVHS just wouldn't be the same for me. The saying, "It takes a village to raise a child" really is true at EV. EVHS is the village, and our students are the children. Without all of us collaborating and working together, our goal of helping students just wouldn't be possible.
  3. How do you know when you have made a difference? Some moments of my job which drive me to work harder are when I see my students grow, and having the feeling of knowing that I am advocating for my students. Everyone needs a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them. It feels absolutely amazing to know that you are that someone that helped them with their obstacles in life. I give my best shot to positively influence my students' lives; since every student has a unique skill/talent, they just need a little guidance on how to apply their strengths.
  4. What is something that people may not know about you? Most people do not know that I like to travel and my goal is to cover all 50 states by the time I turn 50.

Kudos from the Principal:
"For the past five years, Ms. Shobhana Singh has done excellent work at EVHS towards building a more equitable classroom and campus community. As a mild/moderate special education teacher, Ms. Singh has been incredibly effective at developing meaningful relationships with students on her caseload. Not only does she regularly check in with her students to support their strengths and areas of growth, but she does so in a way that exudes compassion for their well-being. Families report that she is caring and accessible, and in Ms. Singh's class, students know they are welcomed as they are and will be challenged with rigorous coursework. Ms. Singh is also incredibly supportive of her colleagues and works well with other EVHS staff members to support students at EVHS. We are so happy to recognize Ms. Singh for her tremendous work towards building a more equitable campus community and ensuring that all students know they belong and can be successful at Evergreen Valley." - Kyle Kleckner, Principal   
Rachel N. G. Sidlauskas
Andrew P. Hill High School
Attendance Secretary

People Behind ESUHSD's Success:

  1. How many years have you worked for ESUHSD? 1.5 years.
  2. What do you like most about your job? The people, both the folks I have an opportunity to work with and the students and their families.
  3. How do you know when you have made a difference? You feel like you've made a connection, and the student isn't just waiting for the Charlie Brown adult to stop speaking, but actually hearing you.
  4. What is something that people may not know about you? I love live performances. I have been to the opera 5 times, but have only seen 4 stories. And I have been to 5 Broadway musicals that traveled out this way, but only have seen 4 shows. I have not repeated any symphonic performances, but there is one I would go back to time and time again, Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet", sitting close enough to watch the string section during such a demanding piece. It is simply breathtaking. I've been to various local productions of plays and musicals. I love to dress up as fancy as I can for each performance. Getting all fancified is half the fun. Maybe not half, but it is definitely fun.

Kudos from the Principal: 
"Rachel has been a constant source of positive energy that is willing to help in any way. She has become a phone support expert in helping families navigate ARMS needed for Distance Learning. Students and their families can also come for in-person support everyday of the week. Rachel was learning the responsibilities of being the Attendance Secretary before COVID and has now accepted the new challenges of Distance Learning. I appreciate her willingness to learn something new and to try what she is learning from using Spanish phrases to accessing the Language Line. Even though students and their families cannot see her smile because of her mask they do sense her positive energy. Thank you!" - Jose Hernandez, Principal
Join Us on LinkedIn!
ESUHSD LinkedIn
Help us celebrate our staff and students on our ESUHSD LinkedIn page.

If you have positive stories about teachers, staff, students and exciting events at your site, we'd like to know about it. Email Linda Ornelas at ornelasl@esuhsd.org.