Beatrice Tesorero is currently an English teacher, teaching 10th and 12th graders. Before coming to Mills, Tesorero taught at Abraham Lincoln High School for nine years and during her 10th year, she was a teacher that supported all middle school and high school English teachers. Outside of teaching, she likes cooking for others, supporting her son, and watching K-dramas. She hopes to build relationships with her co-workers and students here. Lastly, she shares her words of motivation for students, “The only person who gets to determine whether or not you can or can’t do something is you.”
Last year, Shannon Lane was an assistant principal but returned as an English teacher for ninth and 10th graders this year. Over the last 23 years of being in the education department, she has been an administrator for 12 years and a teacher for 11. Her hobbies include going to the theater, watching movies, reading, and game nights with her family. Since it’s her first year back in the classroom, she looks forward to getting back into the groove of teaching. Lane finishes off by saying, “We as the adults in this space are here to help you prep you for whatever your future is.”
James Ortega is the new assistant principal for the ninth and 10th graders. He was initially at Skyline High School for four years as an assistant principal. His hobbies outside of school include crafts like 3D printing, embroidery, sewing, and screen printing. He wishes to give extra support to the multi language learners. To end, Ortega tells us, “High school takes perseverance and not everything is going to, you know, go right the first time but you just gotta keep trying.”
Alexis Castaneda is a new ninth grade biology and biotechnology teacher this year. She taught at San Francisco International High School for four years before Mills. Some of her hobbies include running, playing Pokemon, playing video games, and dancing to zumba. Her goal for the academic year is to increase hands-on learning in biotech, hoping to have at least one experiment every two weeks. Some words of advice Alexis shares are, “Invest in your sleep; it’s worth it,” she says. “One hour of sleep is better than one hour of study.”
Pamela Luna has been teaching for 14 years and is currently in the math department. She is a first-generation student that attended Stanford and Notre Dame. Since Luna moved a lot growing up, she was surrounded by many new languages. Despite it, she has always felt a connection with math because it is a universal language. In her free time, she likes going hiking, camping, spending time with her family, painting, drawing, and listening to music. Since she is new at Mills, she hopes to get to know everyone and help students progress as they learn. She finishes off by sharing her words of wisdom, “Life is like a song. The way you dance is the way you are.”
Elizabeth Kendall has been a teacher for five years and is now a science teacher for 10th to 12th graders. Besides teaching, Dr. Kendall is in a choir and enjoys singing. This year, she hopes to make physics enjoyable to her students. She offers a piece of advice by saying, “Keep asking questions, everyone probably has the same question.”