{photo credit: Jessica Wilson, staff photos: Michelle Dorman}
It’s Friday, which means Friday Faces! Today we are featuring our phenomenal Lower Middle School team, who make 5th and 6th grade here at SLOCA such an amazing place to be – thank you, teachers!
Jennifer Wright
LMS Lead Teacher, LMS Core Teacher (Track A & B)
Q: How long have you been at SLOCA?
A: This will be my eighth year teaching at SLOCA and each year gets better than the last!
Q: What brought you here? How did you discover our school?
A: I heard about SLOCA through a friend of mine who was sending her children to the school. I had been looking for a part-time teaching position to ease myself back into going to work after taking about seven years off to raise my young children. Immediately, I connected with the school's philosophy of instilling a love for life-long learning, and was eager to learn more about the Classical approach. I have loved the opportunity to teach children who are excited to come to school and participate in lessons and activities that are creative, interactive and that allow each student to shine in their own way. I have treasured learning along with my students and families, and love that we are all encouraged to continue to challenge ourselves in multiple ways.
Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: A Marine Scientist. I went on a whale watching trip when I was in Middle School and became fascinated by the immense size of whales, as well as the tiniest sea creatures that live hidden in tide pools. I studied marine science in college and interned at an environmental organization called Save The Bay, woking in the education department. After I graduated, I was hired full-time and my favorite part of my job was taking school children out on a research boat where we analyzed the water quality and set an otter-trawl net to catch and look at the marine life living in the bay. Although I later had some employment experiences working in a lab and out in the field as a marine science technician for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, I knew in my heart that I was destined to teach.
Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?
A: Not too many regular shoes, but I do have a slight obsession with boots. Brown boots, black boots, fuzzy warm and cozy boots. Red boots, purple boots, even three pairs of rain boots (sadly, they have been collecting dust with our lack of rain!).
Q: What do you like on your pizza?
A: Breaded eggplant! I haven't found a restaurant here in SLO that makes it, but on the east coast when I visit family in Rhode Island and New Jersey, it's a must have!!
Q: Name a book you read this summer and enjoyed, or have read this year.
A: I read The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant on a flight home from the east coast after visiting family. I love historical fiction, and this story captured the life of a young immigrant girl growing up in Boston in the early 1900's. Throughout the story she has to persevere through prejudice, tragedy, hard-ships, challenging relationships and perceptions of what women could and could not do during that era, to pursue her dreams through hard work, grit and determination. Throughout the book, I kept thinking about the life my grandmothers lived during that era and how much the world has changed in the last 100 years.
Nick Stavros
LMS Core Teacher (Track A&B), Friday Foundations LMS Teacher
Q: How long have you been at SLOCA?
A: This will be my third year at SLOCA.
Q: What brought you here? How did you discover our school?
A: I discovered this school through Caroline Vaccaro, who opened my eyes to other ways of teaching than public school.
Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: When I was a kid, I wanted to be things like a paleontologist, a person who lives in a treehouse, a skier, and a teacher.
Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?
A: I own more pairs of shoes than I thought. Hiking, biking, sandals, snow, ski boots, etc.
Q: What do you like on your pizza?
A: I like artichoke hearts, chicken, olives, tomatoes, basil, and cheese on my pizza.
Q: Name a book you read this summer and enjoyed, or have read this year.
A: I read The Ghost Map, a book about the cholera outbreak in London.
Pam Gerhardt
LMS, UMS, and HS Latin Teacher, A4/B4 Lab Teacher
Q: How long have you been at SLOCA?
A: I’m beginning my 4th year.
Q: What brought you here? How did you discover our school?
A: My husband and I had just graduated our 6th (and last) homeschool graduate and I was praying about what God would have me do in the future with my time. I had 5 criteria for a job if I were to go that direction. One day I ran into my good friend Lisa Wallace, and she asked me if I would be interested in a job at SLOCA. At first I said no, then I thought about it and realized it met all 5 criteria I had prayed about. After a few phone calls and an interview, I started at SLOCA about two weeks later. SLOCA was the answer to my prayers, and I could not be happier!
Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: A wife and mother, and a nurse.
Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?
A: More than I can wear at one time.
Q: What do you like on your pizza?
A: Basil and sun dried tomato, light on the cheese, thin crust.
Q: Name a book you read this summer and enjoyed, or have read this year.
A: I read The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert by Rosario Butterfield, Milton's Paradise Lost and The Boys in the Boat by Daniel J. Brown, and of course Mindset by Carol Dweck, to name just a few.
Guy Kinnear
LMS, UMS, and HS Art Teacher
Q: How long have you been at SLOCA?
A: This will be my 2nd year.
Q: What brought you here? How did you discover our school?
A: I have family members who have attended this school for years, and had been a fan of integrated humanities style education for decades. When I moved into the area, and discovered there was an opening for an art teacher, I jumped at the opportunity.
Q: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A: An artist.
Q: How many pairs of shoes do you own?
A: 8
Q: What do you like on your pizza?
A: Whatever I find in the fridge that goes well with goat cheese.
Q: Name a book you read this summer and enjoyed, or have read this year.
A: The Art of the Commonplace by Wendell Berry.
