This year at Granada, there are nine new faculty members teaching classes ranging from science to ROPs. These new teachers are eager to get to know their students and for their students to get to know them.
Starting with one of the new additions to the science staff, Mr. Despotakis in S-9 originally wanted to
go into sports broadcasting, but soon realized it was not the right fit for him and decided to go into teaching because he “[loves] kids and… it’s just a fun environment to be in.”
Although he comes from a mostly middle school teaching background, he is very excited to be a part of the school’s environment and to be involved with school activities such as football games. He hopes to coach baseball eventually and is very excited to be around the “sports aspect and the community aspect of high school.” He hopes to encourage his students to leave his class “a nicer person than they came in” and “leave with skills to succeed in a healthy lifestyle.”
In the English department, Granada has brought in former long-term substitute, Mr. Bennett, to teach tenth and eleventh grade English in P-22. He was inspired to become a teacher because he wanted to be a “positive impact on the next generation of world leaders, business owners, and basketball players.” He hopes his students take away the ability to “apply critical thinking all around their lives.” Mr. Bennett strives for his classroom to be a safe space for people to talk and express themselves freely without worry. He is very excited to learn from his students about how language and ways of speaking have changed, and he hopes to be involved in any activities that his students want him to be involved in.
“If there were a Dungeons and Dragons club, I’d be down to support our students; kids are worth supporting,” said Bennett.
Granada has also added a new Spanish teacher, Mr. Mitchell, to their staff this year. Mr. Mitchell
comes from a long line of teachers, “going back many generations,” and he used to teach at a school in San Francisco. This year, his goal is to “be a better teacher than [he] was last year.” He would consider his teaching style to be “fairly conventional,” however, he is trying to step out of that box a bit and “do more cooperative, teamwork, and learning together kind of stuff.” He’s always enjoyed helping people, and hopes his students will take away the pleasure of learning and being able to communicate in another language. Mr. Mitchell has only ever taught Spanish classes, including “AP Spanish, Spanish 2, and now Spanish 1.” He is very excited to see our cross country team in action because he “ran cross country in high school.” Overall, he is thrilled to be a part of the Granada High School team and hopes to get feedback that will make him a better teacher in the long run.
In the history department, Ms. Jorgenson has always wanted to be a teacher and has found that it has always been her purpose. She is excited to be back in California after being in “South Carolina then Washington state” because she likes “the new schedule, and [she likes] the curriculum California has for its students.” She sets “high expectations but hopes that students know [she] is here to help them meet those expectations.” She loves how the school spirit is much more evident than it was at her old schools and that “people seem to be very supportive here…and everyone dresses up for spirit days, even the teachers.” She is currently teaching world history and US history in room 305 and has taught seniors government, criminal justice, and debate. She hopes her students can apply what they learn in history to their everyday lives.
In addition to the school’s culinary program, Mrs. Burbach is excited to share her joy of cooking with her
students. This year, she is the most excited to “watch the students make new recipes and fall in love with new foods that they never would have tried if it weren’t for [this] class.” Her class is very hands-on. They “don’t open a book,” and she has her students learn by cooking for themselves. She taught at Del Valle High School and has been teaching culinary arts for three years. She hopes students will gain independence and a love for cooking, “so that they know they don’t have to go out and buy [food] they can make it and it’s much healthier.” She’s learned a lot from her students, but mostly about “how good teenagers are, they’re good people.”
Finally, Mrs. Hobbs is the new ROP Integrated Marketing Communications and ROP Economics and Business Ownership teacher in Room 400 during periods 1 and 4. With a large business background, she wanted to do something “that would give back to the community and to kids,” hence her decision to go into teaching. She enjoys seeing students “pick college majors based on [her] class” and watching them learn about themselves. Her class is “fun, hands-on, and interactive,” and with teenage kids of her own, she understands the stage of life that her students are currently in. Her classes have a mix of both Livermore and Granada students, and she claims, “they are actually very similar. Really good kids and really smart kids.” She is excited to learn about the new technology that the students are using now and how to incorporate it into the class. She is also very happy to be a supervisor for DECA and travel with the club to conferences.
