Dr. Brian Engel, Pueblo’s new chemistry teacher, expressed that he is happy to be a part of the Warrior community this year. Although he is new to Pueblo, he has been teaching for a total of 11 years now and still really enjoys it.
“I was good at explaining [my subject] and working with students,” said Engel.
He was a family doctor at the Banner South Campus for roughly a year prior to becoming a teacher but says that between the two, he prefers being a teacher.
He said, “I didn’t really like it [being a doctor]. It wasn’t what I expected. I wasn’t able to spend that much time with the patients and it was a lot of paperwork.”
Halfway through the semester, Engel said that he likes his new school.
“I like the people, teachers, administration, and students, they’ve been really helpful and understanding,” said Engel.
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”.
Last school year, chemistry teacher Ms. Melissa Espindola was one of the unfortunate dozen or so teachers to be adversely affected by one of the most devastating vandalism cases in TUSD history; however, she now thrives in a bigger classroom with more materials at her disposal.
Espindola can now be found happily teaching honors chemistry students in Room 166 instead of the library conference room.
“I’m so glad that I got this room full of lab stations and plenty of space for my students to move around,” she said. “It is so much better than that little crammed room where I was not allowed to do any experiments.”
Espindola, along with other science teachers, would not have made it without the support from fellow colleagues and peers.
Ms. Elaine Straub, Pueblo’s forensic science teacher, said, “I cannot describe how delighted I am to be back in my room after it was utterly trashed.”
Last December and January, more than a dozen classrooms were severely vandalized—either through fire or water damage. Most science teachers were relocated for the remainder of the school year—an entire semester.
“Even though there is still some odd ends [that need to be addressed] such as not having my equipment replaced, other science teachers are still affected by the vandalism,” she said.
Teachers such as Espindola and new addition to the Pueblo family, Dr. Brian Engel, do not have water installed in their classrooms, although they remain hopeful that this situation is very temporary.
Despite being ecstatic to be back in her classroom, Espindola is dumbfounded by the thought that the window security barriers have not been installed yet, a project that she said should have been completed by now.
“It will be an embarrassment if my class were to be vandalized again because of this [lack of security barriers],” she said. “It’s like they are waiting for a vandalism to happen again; I don’t know why this issue is not a priority.”
Despite the inconveniences of teachers and students—as well as the sacrifices both groups had to endure—the Pueblo spirit remains fervid and fortified.
Among the more than two dozen new teachers and staff members new to Pueblo High School this school year is Ms. Janet Olvera, Pueblo’s Data Intervention Specialist—to interpret data to assist teachers in developing specific interventions to improve student learning. Even though this job may be new to Olvera, Pueblo is hardly new to her—as she graduated from P.H.S. back in 1997.
Olvera is joining the Warrior teaching/staff family with many years of educational experience. She taught elementary students at Henry Oyama and Lynn Urquides Elementary Schools. Then, she spent another three years at Pistor Middle School as a counselor after earning her master’s degree from the Northern Arizona University.
“I loved teaching [elementary students],” Olvera said, “but I really prefer working with students one-on-one, which is why I prefer counseling students. I like helping students with their academic, social and emotional needs.”
Olvera said that it’s no accident that she was steered in the field of education.
“I had great teachers at Pueblo back in the mid-1990s,” she said. “I can’t believe that a lot of my teachers are still here. I definitely remember Ms. Avila-Miranda, my math teacher. She sure had a lot of patience. Even though I was always respectful of teachers, I probably gave her a harder time than I’d like to admit. I remember laughing a lot in my classes—just having fun but always learning.”
She paused and added, “I also learned a lot in Mr. [Steve] Lopez’ math class! I never knew math could be taught with such enthusiasm and creativity.”
Olvera said that she also remembers Ms. [Wilma] Amaro, Ms. [Lydia] Morales, Mr. [Cristobál] Santa Cruz and Ms. [Dr. Maria] Bicknell and added that she is glad they’re all still teaching because they all made such huge impacts on her.
“Mr. [Rana] Medhi was my favorite teacher at Pueblo, though,” Olvera said. “Everything I know about English, I learned in his class. I can’t even write a letter without thinking of him and everything he taught me. He definitely left a lasting impression on me, and it was so good to see him again.”
Olvera also expressed that Pueblo Principal Dr. Augustine Romero has been extremely supportive.
“Dr. Romero is definitely the best administrator that I’ve ever worked for,” Olvera said. “He values and respects his teachers and staff members. It’s like being part of a family here at Pueblo, and I love that community feeling here.”
As for being back at Pueblo, Olvera said, “Some things never change—surprisingly, Pueblo is about the same as it was in the 1990s when I was a student here—minus students’ dependency on technology.”
Several years after graduating from high school, Olvera said that she had a few dreams about returning to Pueblo.
“Somehow, I always knew I’d be back here,” Olvera said.
You’ve seen them around campus: pictures of Mr. Cristobál Santa Cruz adorned on the black t-shirts. About 30 seniors were inspired to create them after being in Santa Cruz’ AP U.S. history class last year.
Some of these class of 2018 seniors are very particular about when they wear these “Santa Cruz” T-shirts.
Senior Lydia Angulo said, “Many of us try to wear the shirts on Santa Cruz’ test days, and others choose to wear them on Fridays.”
At first, the idea for the T-shirts was just a joke that the senior trio Lydia Angulo, Iram Arce and Brianna Metzler had made.
“It was just a joke and we even made a fake advertisement and emailed everybody about it,” said Arce.
However, the shirts were such a big hit with many of the students and teachers that shirt requests were starting to come in quicker than expected.
“We had about 30 people order a shirt including Dr. Gonzalez and Santa Cruz’ wife,” said Arce.
“We began to see this as a means of marking a ‘historic’ event that will leave a legacy for future generations,” said Metzler.
The man in question, Mr. Cristobal Santa Cruz, said, “At first, I was shocked and a little weirded-out, but now I am appreciative.”
Starting this 2017-18 school year, Ms. Raquel Alonso joins the Warrior Family—all of the way from Spain! Indeed, Pueblo High School is very proud to have her as our new Spanish teacher.
Despite the distance between Spain and Tucson, the transition to Pueblo has not been stressful or difficult for Alonso, as she had a positive attitude since the beginning.
Ms. Raquel Alonso (center) with some of her students.
“The students at Pueblo have adjusted very well in my classroom,” said Alonso. “They [students] work extremely hard, and I advise them to take advantage of every minute they are in my classroom.”
Despite this school year being Alonso’s first at Pueblo, she has had extensive teaching experiences as an international educator. Those include teaching in various positions in the United Kingdom and teaching Spanish courses at Reed College in Oregon (known for perhaps their most distinguished alumni, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple).
Coming from schools with rigorous curricula, Alonso said that she plans to apply that very same academic discipline to her students here at Pueblo.
“You always want to learn as much as you can,” said Alonso. “I really do believe that everyone is capable of going to college.”
In the near future, Alonso hopes to continue enriching her own education.
“I love school!” she said. “That’s honestly the reason why I became a teacher in the first place. I do hope to earn a PhD in linguistics and maybe do some traveling along the way as well.”
For now, one of Alonso’s goals at Pueblo is to properly transition some of her current Spanish students to AP Spanish courses that will be available to them the following school year.
