The new school year has brought a lot of new teachers and staff. From ELA to Math to Science and Special Programs, these teachers are bringing new and exciting ideas to our school.
Ms. Laura Mayberry
I interviewed teachers like Laura Mayberry. She started teaching at Estancia, then went to Corona del Mar High School. She has worked at the other schools for about or more than 20 years. She went to Sonoma State University, then Cal State Long Beach. Earned her Master’s Degree from Ashland University and is currently on the last part of her PHD.
She said “I love my subject matter and working with students. I enjoy having a job where I work with lots of people and every day there are new things to talk about and do in the classroom.”
She’s not sure how long, but she imagines to keep teaching for another 10-15 years then might teach part time at a college level. She plans to attend as many of the school events as she can.
I asked her if she liked the school so far and she said “I like it. I knew a lot of people who work here before I came, so it is nice to be able to work with them. All the new teachers and staff I did not know ahead of time are really friendly and helpful.”
I also asked her what she likes about our school and she said “Friendly people. I love the vibe on campus. The campus is nice. I like the layout, all the windows, and the facilities. I also love all the green. It is my favorite color.”
Ms. Angelique Bender
Ms. Bender was hired this year to teach American Sign Language at CMHS and currently works at both Corona del Mar and Mesa. She said she loves teaching people how to communicate with people like her. She attended Cal State Fullerton and she’s planning on teaching for about 10-15 years. She’s planning to attend school events that her students invite her to.
I asked her how she likes our school and what she likes about it and she said “I love it. Everything from the colors, to the mascot, the students, the staff, the location overall fantastic.”
Ms. Grace Sohn
She worked at Newport Harbor High School for 3 years before transferring to Mesa. I asked her what inspired her to work as a teacher she said “I remember when my 2nd grade teacher took the time to get to know me and teach me things outside academics (like how to talk to adults vs. my friends, how to stand up for myself without “just getting them back”, leadership skills, etc.) and how much of a difference it made in my life. I wanted to be that for my students – someone safe, caring, and finding ways to set them up for success that sometimes might not be about the subject that I teach.”
She attended UC Riverside for her Bachelors and CSUF for her Masters in science and her teaching credential. She said “I plan on being a teacher until I retire or win the lotto.”
I asked her how she likes our school. She said she loves it here and she really likes her students this year.
There are still a lot of teachers and staff members you could go and meet!
Here is a complete list of the new staff here at Mesa this year. If you see them on campus, make sure to give them a warm Mustang welcome.
- Ms. Jasmin Barnett – MS ELA/journalism
- Ms. Angelique Bender – ASL
- Mr. Jason Boyer – Special Programs
- Ms. Sarah Castro – ELD/ELA
- Ms. Katie Holtz – Math/TOSA
- Ms. Laura Mayberry – Social Science
- Mr. Ramiro Sanchez – Band/Piano
- Ms. Grace Sohn – Science/TOSA
- Ms. Emily Staeck – College/Career/ROP
- Ms. Delora Wang – Special Ed or Special Programs
New Campus Safety Staff, too!:
- Adrianna Kranz
- Marianna Narvaez
- Jose Olmedo
- Fernando Ospino
- Andrew Vu
