Math – Pueblo High School

Ms. Rhesa Olsen Retires After Decade At Pueblo

By Arnold Ochoa

After 10 years of passionate teaching at Pueblo High School, Ms. Rhesa Olsen said: “It’s time to retire.”

For the past decade at PHS, Olsen taught various levels of algebra and financial math to more than a thousand Warriors.

“It’s gone by so fast, and I can’t believe 10 years have come and gone!” Olsen said. “It’s been a pleasure.”

Despite missing all her great students—past and present—she said that she won’t miss the alarm clock going off at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Olsen’s early life was about living in many wonderful places in the country. Olsen’s father was an officer in the U.S. Air Force, so she and her family moved frequently. Her favorite places to live were Oahu, HI (grades three through five), and Alexandria, VA, where she graduated from high school.

Olsen then moved to Tallahassee, FL, to begin her teaching career in the late 1970’s at Godby High School. She then taught calculus and algebra at Tallahassee Community College and various algebra classes at Ivy Tech State College in Indianapolis.

“When I first started teaching, educators used chalkboards and mimeograph machines,” Olsen said. “I’d go home each evening with different colored chalk on my clothes, hair, and face—as well as purple ink on my hands from the stencils. Promethean Boards have certainly made teaching easier and less messy!”

After retirement, Olsen has a lot on her “To Do” list. She is looking forward to volunteering her time at a few animal shelters as well as tutoring math and reading at a local elementary school.

“I’m also excited about visiting friends and family [during retirement],” she said. “I look forward to traveling—especially to places I haven’t yet visited, including Alaska and Costa Rica.”

With so much on Olsen’s “plate” after this semester, she said that she will still miss her love of teaching and many of her students.

“I think what I’ll miss most are the times when I observed students beginning to enjoy math in my classes,” she said. “I loved seeing students ‘get it’—and when they realized that math isn’t so scary after all. I will also miss former students coming back to visit to tell me what they’re doing with their lives since high school.”

Although 10 years of teaching at Pueblo has been just a fraction of Olsen’s total educational career, she said that she will miss the camaraderie between other teachers both while at Pueblo and after hours.

“There is a lot to say before retirement,” Olsen said, “but I think what I want to say foremost is that I hope that I have encouraged students to be amazed at the beauty, fun and magic of math. I also want kids to know that one learns from making mistakes, and that they should always try. If they don’t try, they won’t know.”

Olsen would like to end her teaching career by quoting poet/writer George Eliot: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

She hopes students will heed the message in Eliot’s words.

Mr. McCauley Joins Pueblo Math Department

By Jenna Twaje

Among the nearly two dozen new teachers and staff members joining the Pueblo High School family this year, math teacher Mr. Collin McCauley is enthusiastic about sharing his love of his subject to students.

“I’ve always been good at math—ever since I can remember,” McCauley said. “As a first-year teacher, I’m hoping to help my students reach their full potential.”

Even after just a few months at Pueblo, McCauley said that being a part of the Warrior community makes him feel at home.

“This is definitely a school with a lot of culture,” he said.

McCauley said that he was influenced by his own math teachers growing up.

“These [math] teachers were true role models in my life,” he said.

McCauley said that he is looking forward to being the head coach of Pueblo’s JV basketball team.

“With my love of sports, I want to create an environment that is safe and fun and help the team reach their full potential,” McCauley said.

He added, “I want to feel like everything I do at Pueblo is important to my students and team members.”

Viviana Fimbres Makes It To Pueblo—Finally!

By Leslie Burgos

Ms. Viviana Fimbres helping some of her math students.

This school year, Pueblo High School is elated to have Ms. Viviana Fimbres join the faculty as a new geometry teacher for mostly sophomores, juniors and seniors.

It’s been a long journey for Fimbres to finally get here…

As a teenager, Fimbres wanted to attend Pueblo like most of her friends and her siblings, but Fimbres was not able to attend PHS because her parents had preferred her to go to a new charter school. After graduating from the University of Arizona, she taught at University High School for four years.

Then…Fimbres transferred to Pueblo—FINALLY making it to PHS.

“Coming to Pueblo was a dream come true—a little late but better than never,” she said.

Thus far this semester, Fimbres said that she has already experienced many positive moments.

“As I was walking into the school in the morning, I was carrying papers in one hand and a coffee container in the other hand—and a student was kind enough to open the door for me,” she said. “Our [Pueblo] students are very generous and kind, and they respect their teachers.”

Fimbres said that she loves Pueblo because of the school’s culture.

“This place [Pueblo] makes me feel comfortable, and I know I can talk my native language here and not be judged for it,” she said.

“Sometimes students have bad moments—like when one left class early and was asked to return, and he slammed a locker really hard,” Fimbres said. “But by the next day, we had both forgotten about the incident. However, most students say good morning to me if they see me in the hallways, and I love that friendliness here.”

Fimbres describes her students as “hard working” and added that all of them have the potential to earn A’s and B’s.

“I’ve been here long enough to wish for a few changes in the bell schedule,” Fimbres said. “I wish that every day classes were dismissed at the same time and that passing periods were a few minutes longer. From the complaints I’ve been hearing from students, our school should offer better lunch menus.”

Fimbres said that she has set her standards high, but she knows that her students are all capable of passing her class with very high grades.

To help these students achieve these high grades she plans to continue getting to know the students and the different ways they learn.

“I believe I can only take my profession day by day as long as I always remember that every student has a different pace of learning,” Fimbres said.

Diego Ramirez—Back For More!

by Jacquelyn Gutierrez

Pueblo Alumni, Mr. Diego Ramirez from the Class of 2012, has returned to his alma mater as a math RTI teacher after graduating from the University of Arizona.

“I came back to Pueblo because I feel it will always be my school,” said Ramirez. “Everyone has been welcoming.”

After high school, Ramirez was an AVID tutor at Cholla High School for nearly five years. Then, he taught algebra at Desert View for a summer before teaching summer school at Pueblo last summer.

“I chose teaching because I wanted to help students realize their potential,” Ramirez added. “I want my kids to be as successful as they could be.”

Ramirez’ inspiration sprouted from the outstanding math teachers that he had in high school.

“Mr. [Roman] Badalov was my biggest inspiration to become a math teacher,” Ramirez said. “I also had a lot of cool math teachers at Pueblo over my four years.”

Not only does Ramirez want to be a classroom teacher, but he also plans on being a principal in the near future. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Arizona—in educational leadership. However, he wants to be remembered as the “cool math teacher”.

Watch out, Dr. Romero!

Warrior Student Becomes Warrior Teacher

by Brianna Ozuna

Mr. Gerardo López, Pueblo Alumni from the Class of 2005, has now returned to become an Algebra 1 teacher. This will be Lopez’s first year here at Pueblo.

López was a former teacher’s aide in the Sunnyside School District, but he added this position pushed him to pursue a teaching career.

“It was during this time that I truly realized that I liked math and liked helping students just as much. So, I made the decision to become a teacher.”

Thus far, López said that he has enjoyed his experiences here at Pueblo by making connections with students and building relationships with them while teaching and motivating them to push themselves.

“I see some of the students going through the same struggles as I did when I was a teenager,” he said. “We can make connections, and so I’m kind of motivating them to do better in life.”

As a new teacher, López confessed that he has many strengths and a few weaknesses.

“One of my greatest strengths is being patient, which is one of the reasons why teaching has been so easy for me. However, one of my weaknesses is taking work home with me—not getting grading done at Pueblo.”

López said that he is “very happy” that he is initiating his full-time teaching career at Pueblo, and he is looking forward to adapting to a new lifestyle—a new school with great new students.

Eighth Graders Get An Early Start On Math At Pueblo

By Felicity Aguilar and Yisela Molina

8th Graders Taking Math At Pueblo High School 2016

For the second consecutive year, Pueblo Magnet High School has offered a program to teach Honors Algebra to over a dozen eighth graders from Hollinger K-8 and McCorkle Middle School.

These students attend this class four days each week and are taught by Pueblo math teacher Mr. Billy Campbell during first period.

Campbell said, “This class [algebra] will help these middle school students get a head start, so when they come back to Pueblo as freshmen, they will be one step ahead and will be able to take geometry a year earlier than most students.”

In order to get to Pueblo, these students walk, take the bus or get dropped off by family members. When class is over, Mrs. Laura Gallego (Pueblo’s Magnet Recuiter), Mr. Adalberto Rodriguez (Pueblo’s Media Specialist), Albert Ochoa (Pueblo’s Custodian) & others escort them back to school in time for their next class.

8th Graders Taking Math At Pueblo High School With Billy Campbell — 8th Graders in Math Teacher Mr. Billy Campbell’s class

“Mr. Campbell is a very creative teacher,” said Joseph Vega, an eighth grade McCorkle student. “He’s full of energy and enthusiasm, and he uses many methods to teach us. His class is really fun.”

Diana Quiroz, a student from Hollinger, said, “Mr. Campbell keeps us motivated to want to learn, he tells us stories to keep us interested!”

The idea of this program was a joint effort between Pueblo and Hollinger. In the future, Pueblo hopes to expand this program to include other middle schools.

Pueblo’s principal Dr. Augustine Romero said, “I wholeheartedly support the idea that Pueblo should have more collaboration with middle schools across the city—and perhaps expand to other subjects other than math.”