Who's Behind the Bulldog?

This week's guest is Social Studies facilitator and JCEA building rep David Holt. This semester, David co-teaches two sections of Integrated American Studies with Lindsey Hewett and Reinelle Abrazado. He also teaches World Studies. In this episode, David digs into his role as an AR and identifies some pivotal areas where we as a school are moving in the right direction as well as areas of growth. He discusses how he and his co-teachers and co-planners of American Studies have found a process to embed everyone's opinions in order to find true compromise and allow for authentic integration. Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode!

This week's Bulldog is art teacher Ciara Pias. This Spring, Ciara is teaching Drawing and Painting, Advanced and Intermediate Drawing, and co-teaching AMPED on Algebra with Isaac Tafoya. She has a student teacher this semester as well, Karyn Wilks. In our conversation, Ciara talks about how she provides voice and choice for her students, creates a space that is safe to make mistakes, and prioritizes showing students how much she cares about them as strategies to build engagement and inspiration.

This weeks guest is 10th grader Emilio Medina. This is an incredible episode that really digs in to some big topics related to social-emotional learning. Emilio is in the process of starting a new student group called "Outreach" and he talks about his ideas, inspiration and why it's so important for the students in our school. If you can spot four analogies throughout this episode, email Mr. Jensen for a special prize. Also, you'll notice the new artwork for this podcast. This is original Bulldog artwork by none other than Emilio himself. Thanks, as always, for tuning in.

This week's bulldog is Ryan Ogi. This semester, Ryan co-teaches both World Studies with Mr. White, American Studies with Mr. White and Ms. Abrazado as well as AP U.S. History. In our conversation, Ryan talks heavily about the relationships that he has built while at Arvada. He discusses his remarkable co-teaching partnership with Mr. White and how they found developed a system that works for them through reiteration. He provides some valuable tips and tricks for staying sane in this remarkable year of remote and hybrid learning. Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode.

This week's bulldog is Science facilitator and department chair Laura Schoenfeld. This semester, Laura is teaching Chemistry, Chemistry Honors and AP Chemistry. In our conversation, Laura shares about her unconventional path into teaching and why teaching is such a good fit. She shares some of her learnings in supporting students and not taking everything too seriously.

This special edition of Who's Behind the Bulldog continues the conversation about what has been working, not working and ideas still to try to help make the hybrid learning experience as effective as possible for our students. Thanks so much to Hannah Doran and Sergio Yanes for facilitating this awesome discussion with staff!

This week's guest is 10th grade student Austin Jackson. Austin is a student who moved to Colorado last year from Mississippi and loves his experience at Arvada High School. He talks about some of his favorite things about Arvada and some of the differences between here and Mississippi.

Today's guest bulldog is math teacher Jason Ziegler. This spring, Jason is teaching Geometry in Construction, Algebra II, and AP Calculus. In our conversation, Jason discusses many of Arvada's recent successes and touches on a bit of the history. He digs into the benefits of Restorative Practices both for a school as well as a society. He also talks about math instruction and some of the ways he overcomes the challenges faced by teaching the subject. Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of "Who's Behind the Bulldog" with Jason Ziegler.

Today's guest is Assistant Principal slash Activities Director Mark Abling. Previously, Mark was a Social Studies facilitator at Arvada and a variety of of other schools. In our conversation, Mark opens up about how his life was impacted by a near-death soccer experience when he was in high school. He discusses how Arvada has changes in his time here, including the impact that New Tech and Restorative Practices has had on our culture. He also talk about his unexpected path into education and how the things he prioritizes as an educator are shaped by an inequitable system. Thanks as always for tuning in to this week's episode of Who's Behind the Bulldog.

Today's guest on Who's Behind the Bulldog is English Senator and theater director Steven Mathis. Steven teaches Hip Hop as Literature, Acting and Stagecraft, Film Studies and Directing and co-teaches American Studies with Nick Floerchinger and Darcy Botham. In our conversation, Steven talks about his experiences and one of three black members of staff, how our country can improve in the recruitment of black educators, and how this is connected to the Black Lives Matter movement. He discusses using voice and choice, cultural representation and human-centered approaches in his classroom and opens up about some past mistakes that have shaped his current mindsets in education. Thanks, as always, for tuning in to this week's episode of Who's Behind the Bulldog.

Today's guest is Special Ed teacher and department chair Matt Katzman. In this episode, Matt discusses how his Toyota Highlander represents his dynamic personality. He talks about the need to be flexible and adaptable, how he's proud of many of the projects he's been able to co-plan with various teachers and about some of the strategies he uses to individualize education for students. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode!

This week's guest is World Language and Student Council facilitator Keila Castorena. Hear Keila talk about how she prioritizes making connections with students and providing them with a caring heart. She discusses her origins in El Paso, Texas and how color guard eventually led her to a profession that never bores her - teaching! She also talks about some terrific engagement strategies and what she's learned in the remote setting works best for students to provide consistency and let them know she cares.

Check out the SPECIAL EDITION of Who's Behind the Bulldogs - it's FULL of great advice to support ELL students in the remote setting from our wonderful ELL team!

This week's guest is Sara Milius. Sara is a Special Education teacher. This year, Sara is co-teaching sections of Geographic Studies, Physical Science, Algebra I and Geometry. In our conversation, Sara talks about her time in Minnesota and what led her to become a Special Education teacher. She also discusses projects she has used in the past, including a Civics projects she has previously used, and what she's looking forward to this year. She also talks about her views on equity in education and provides advice for other educators. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of “Who's Behind the Bulldog.”

Today's guest on Who's Behind the Bulldog is Joel Carda. Joel is one of our ESL teachers at Arvada and this year teaches ESL English 1, ESL 1 / 2, Lit Accel 2 (Bicycle Maintenance), ESL 3 / 4 and ELL Support. In our conversation, Joel discusses his history from working in the airlines in ground service to teaching English overseas in Japan and Thailand to becoming an ESL teacher here at Arvada. He shares about his love for teaching the students at Arvada and why he's so proud of the music program he has developed with his ESL students. He describes Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) approach and how this has transformed his teaching. Joel is an amazing educator and I hope you enjoy today's episode of Who's Behind the Bulldog.

Today's Bulldog is Roger Griffin. Roger is our Dean of Culture at Arvada and also teaches a remote section of Algebra I this year. In our conversation, Roger talks about his deep care for our students and how his belief that all students can learn shapes his approach to teaching. He discusses many of his learnings over his time at Arvada and how he's come to realize that we need to approach each situation differently and that the key to success is building trusting relationships with our students. He offers up some advice to help cope with the changes with remote learning and that we need to ground ourselves in growth over perfection as we navigate these tricky times. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Who's Behind the Bulldog?

We're very excited to welcome our first student interview in this week's episode of Who's Behind the Bulldog. I had an opportunity to speak with Arvada High School Senior Mandy Yang. In our conversation, Mandy talks about what she loves about Arvada and what makes learning interesting for her. She talks about her family and Hmong culture as well as her extracurricular activities.

Today's episode of Who's Behind the Bulldog features Olivia Andrew. Olivia co-teaches Geographic Studies with Rachael Powell as well as Introduction to Business. She is also the head volleyball coach and coaches club volleyball on the side. In our conversation, Olivia shares what led her to the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education Program at CU-Denver and how the hope of closing opportunity gaps and understanding the education system as part of this program helped shape her identity as a teacher. She opens up about how her exposure to culturally diverse literature opened her mind as a person of color who presents as white and how that changed her identity and worldviews. She talks about her strong connections to our students and how Arvada is where she really developed her own voice as an educator. She also shares about her learning experiences and parallels between coaching volleyball and classroom instruction, particularly in the arena of creating safe spaces and building relationships.

Today's guest on Who's Behind the Bulldog is Arvada's new vocal music director, Michaela Rael. Michaela teaches concert choir, chorale and modernaires. Beginning this week, she will also be co-teaching the GT seminar at Arvada with Joe Ventola. In our conversation, Michaela shares about her passion for music and how she persevered through challenges in college to pursue this passion. She discusses why Arvada stood out to her in her job search and how she prioritizes equity in music education and plans to embed student voice and choice in the program. Michaela shares that she is excited to get to know the staff at Arvada High School so please take a moment to introduce yourself if you haven't yet had the fortune of meeting one of our newest Bulldogs.

This week's episode is with Shannan Corman. This year, Shannan teaches Physical Science and Biology. In our conversation, Shannan talks about how he's wired to make honesty and openness his approach in connecting with students. He talks about his excitement for his new freshmen physics classes and prepping students for the next few years of science. Shannan also addresses how Restorative Practices has influenced his learning recently and provided opportunities to grow stronger relationships with students in the face of conflict.

That was Ode to Joy, as performed by former students of Arvada's new band director Justin Elks, this week's guest on Who's Behind the Bulldog? Justin teaches Jazz Band, Piano, Orchestra, Guitar, and Concert Band. He is also getting the marching and pep bands rolling again. In our conversation, Justin discusses how he's making band work in our world of COVID, including marching band and pep band as well as figuring out how to do band remotely. He talks about how he instills fun and excitement into his classes and likes to focus on the whole child and show his own human side in forming relationships.

Today's guest is Vern Whittington, who is leading 9th Grade Engagement this year. In this episode, Vern talks about his destiny to become an educator and a bit about his path in coaching and the various roles he's played at Arvada High School. He discusses his optimism in working with the 9th grade team to make the 9th grade year as successful as possible for our new Bulldogs. He talks about how we can each have a positive relationship with every student and need to reserve judgment about students regarding where they start. Vern believes in and lives by the golden rule, and as a result has truly built fantastic relationships with students and staff. I hope you enjoy this episode of Who's Behind the Bulldog with Vern Whittington.

This week's conversation is with Elizabeth Kantner. Kantner is a math teacher who is currently teaching Geometry and PreCalc Honors. This year she is also teaching a section of Economics. In our conversation, Kantner talks about her time living overseas, both in the Peace Corps teaching multi-leveled classes in Namibia as well as living in Germany. She discusses how she is able to get kids comfortable in making mistakes in math without feeling penalized and celebrating multiple approaches to arrive at the correct solution. She also talks about the importance of using our limited amount of time with students this year to its fullest and really taking the time to build connections with students since everyone is different.

Today's guest is Josh White. This year, Josh is co-teaching World Studies with Ryan Ogi as well as American Studies with both Ryan and Reinelle Abrazado. Josh also teaches Philosophy. In our conversation, Josh shares about some of his experiences learning from his students in his time teaching in Los Angeles. He answers the question “Who are you” several times. He also discusses how he's proud of learning to become a teacher in his time at Arvada and also about his hopes for growth with Project-Based learning and teaching remotely. Thanks for tuning in to our conversation.

Today's guest is Roxanna Villareal.  Roxanna is a new Counselor at Arvada High School and has recently moved here from Texas.  She will have the last third of the alphabet, working with all students with last names beginning O through Z. In our interview, Roxanna discusses how she was inspired by a counselor who didn't give up on her during her time in high school.  She also opens up about a recent family tragedy that involves an unsolved double murder of both of her parents last fall. Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of “Who's Behind the Bulldog?”

This week's Who's Behind the Bulldog features Social Studies facilitator Nick Floerchinger.  This year Nick will be teaching Economics and Economics Honors as well as co-teaching American Studies with Steven Mathis and Darcy Botham.  Nick is a graduate from Arvada High school and discusses some of his experiences of what Arvada was like when he was in high school here and how it has changed over time.  He also discusses a fantastic student-centered simulation project that he and Brandon Murray have developed as well, his thoughts on why it is important to encourage students to not have a deficit mindset, and much more. Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode!

Today's interview is with Sergio Yanes.  Sergio is going into his 4th year at Arvada as a CTE teacher.  This year he is scheduled to teach Communication and Journalism, Intro to Teaching, AP Lang, Photojournalism, and Sports Broadcasting.  He is also our yearbook editor, for which he has won multiple awards. In our conversation, Sergio opens up about his experiences as a student of color in a predominately white school in Florida and how this influenced both his decision to become a teacher and how he teaches.  He talks in detail about personal and professional connections to Arvada's big focus for the year - equity.

In this episode, I talk with Ryan Stevens.  Ryan is a new PE teacher this year at Arvada and will be teaching weight training and strength and conditioning.  In the spring he will also pick up our Sports Business class for our Sports Business pathway. In our discussion, Ryan discusses how and why he returned to teaching after leaving the profession for a few years.  He talks about what he does to continually focus on mental wellness and stress management in conjunction with physical activity in his classes and discusses his excitement in becoming a Bulldog.  Ryan is an incredibly positive human being and will fit in fantastically with our Arvada community. Apologies in advance for the low sound.  I am still trying to figure out the best system to ensure there is clarity and appropriate volume in the sound system.

Today's guest is AnaLee De La Cerda.  AnaLee is a World Languages Teacher at Arvada High School.  This year she will be teaching two sections of French 1 and three sections of Spanish 1. In our interview, AnaLee discusses many engagement tips that she has learned over her 19 years of world language teaching experiences in the El Paso and Denver Metro area.  She talks about how she has built relationships with students through becoming a warm demander and demonstrating her passion for appreciating culture.  She also speaks about learning to implement Project Based Learning into her classes this year for the first time and how this new approach has led to strong engagement from her students as well as some great reflections and tips about engaging students remotely. Thanks again for tuning in and enjoy our conversation.

Today's guest is Darcy Botham.  Darcy is new to our school this year and is really excited to jump on board the Arvada Express. Darcy will be co-teaching a 9th grade Geographic Studies class with Kyle Smoker and Lauren Brennan.  She will also be co-teaching a 10th grade American Studies class with Ryan Ogi and Josh White as well as a section of Lit Accel 2. In this episode, Darcy discusses how her desire to teach began at a young age and has led to wonderful teaching experiences in public and Montessori schools, eventually leading her to pursue her masters in ESL.  She talks about strategies that she finds most successful in working with NEP, LEP and FEP students and shares some excellent advice on building a strong community.  Darcy's warmth and passion for education makes her a great catch for us here at Arvada and I hope you don't hesitate to reach out to welcome her to our school.

This week's guest is Hannah Doran. Hannah teaches Seminar, a leadership course that teaches students who have historically struggled to engage find success in school and develop the tools to become self-directed leaders of their own learning. She discusses more about this course and how she supports students in our interview. She also talk about what strategies she uses to help students set goals and monitor their progress in reaching these goals. Hannah also discusses some helpful approaches to starting off our school year remotely in order to continue to prioritize building relationships with students virtually in response to some of the things she's learned in the spring.

In this episode, I talk with Social Studies facilitator Kyle Smoker.  Kyle teaches 9th Grade Integrated Geographic Studies.  This year he'll be partnered with Lauren Brennan as well as one of our new SPED teachers, Sara Milius and our new ESL Teacher, Darcy Botham in the 9th grade integrated classes.  Kyle will also be co-teaching a section of US History with one of our ESL teachers, Carolyn Kegeris. In this interview, Kyle talks about how his experiences being raised in a conservative, religious background led to his desire to become a teacher, how he found tremendous success in a US History project last year during remote learning, and why he thinks it's so important to not have a deficit mindset regarding our students.  He also talks about the need to balance high expectations and rigor with building strong relationships with students and getting to know them on a personal level.

Today's conversation is with Arvada's principal and one of my personal heroes, Gina Yacovetta.  Gina has been a really amazing mentor to me and I have been honored to learn countless things from her about leadership, supporting our community and so much more since I started a year ago.  In our podcast, I ask her about some of the successes and challenges she's experienced over her 31 years in Jeffco, about how and why Arvada became a New Tech partner, and about why she believes in Project Based Learning.  Gina has just found out that Arvada is going to be featured on the national news for our work with Restorative Practices, so I also ask for her thoughts on that and how we can navigate this approach to discipline. This episode was recorded on July 29, 2020.  At the current time our district is planning on moving to a hybrid model after a two week remote start.  Please note that I may call this episode the Hummingbird episode as the microphones picked up some rather obnoxious hummingbird buzz.  So I do apologize in advance for this distraction.  You are most likely not driving with hummingbirds invading your house or car as it may feel.  Not to worry, though, as it is very clear to hear Gina and all of her inspiring messaging.

In this episode, I sit down with one of our fantastic science teachers, Dr. Barb Steward.  Barb teaches Nutrition Science and Chemistry at Arvada.  She also runs the Link Leader program, which is a peer leadership program that teaches our students skills to be community leaders and become role models for our student body.  She's also starting a student-centered Health and Wellness club for students for this coming school year with one of our ESL teachers, Carolyn Kegeris.  In this podcast, Barb shares about her own educational and work experiences, and how these experiences led her to teaching.  She discusses recent learnings about antiracism, thoughts about increasing engagement by providing students with choices and movement, and what she's planning to incorporate in her classes, Link Leader program and new Health and Wellness club this year. Note that this episode was recorded on July 21 of 2020, prior to the Jeffco's decision to move to a hybrid model after a two week remote start for the school year.

I'm really excited about our first guest, Jon Cihlar. I had the opportunity to meet with him on July 8 of 2020, right in the middle of the summer of our pandemic. We really are so lucky to have Jon on our staff as he brings a really grounded and thoughtful teaching style to all of his classes. Last year, he taught Computer Science and AP Lang as well as a freshmen STEM wheel course. This coming school year, he will be teaching Computer Programming, Digital Electronics, and AP Computer Science, as well as running our brand new CLS stem lab in our LMC. In our interview, Jon talks about a lot of successes and goals in designing projects, engaging students to persevere in their work, equity in his classroom, remote learning and much more. I want to mention that last year, New Tech named that Jon's echo agendas were model examples of what they would expect of a veteran New Tech teacher. He's full of great wisdom and advice, and it was really a treat to sit down with him and pick his brain. I hope you find our conversation as interesting as I did.