Meet The Staff – Page 12 – Pueblo High School

Welcome Back, Ms. Tiffany Mendibles-Muñoz!

By Nayeli Sanchez

At the beginning of this new 2016-17 school year, Pueblo welcomed back a former teacher (who also completed her student-teaching here): Ms. Tiffany Mendibles-Muñoz. This year, she is teaching senior and junior-level English classes.

Before returning to Pueblo, Mendibles was working at Changemaker High School. She said she missed Pueblo and really wanted to return here so that she could teach “culturally relevant” courses.

As a co-sponsor of MEChA, (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan), which connects to the culturally relevant courses, Mendibles-Muñoz said that she believes that beginning her kick-classes reading the poem, In the Lak’ach, written by Luís Valdez, helps to motivate her students.

This poem, which translates to “You are my other me”, is a “great” philosophy that grounds her classroom and minimizes classroom management problems, she said.

“[Pueblo] students are amazing,” Mendibles added. “They’re so open to my teaching philosophy.”

Mendibles also added that it felt good to give back to the community she grew up around, and she said that she hopes to stay here for a long time.

“Pueblo is a community filled with love,” she said. “Stepping away for two years opened my eyes to the beauty that lies within the school. I have the privilege of being part of this community, and it is something I will cherish as I embark on the journey of educating and empowering the youth.”

Pueblo Welcomes New Assistant Principal Jennifer Miller

By Noreli Marquez

Pueblo Magnet High School welcomes Ms. Jennifer Miller, the new assistant principal for the 2016-17 school year, after the departure of Ms. Alma Carmona-Alday.

Ms. Miller is in charge of curriculum and instruction at Pueblo. One of her greatest joys is also advising students regarding their class schedules and selections.

“I don’t want students to be scared to ask me questions,” Miller said. “High school seems like a long time to students, but four years go by fast, so they really should not take school for granted.”

After graduating from University High School in 1995, Miller attended Arizona State University, and eventually transferred to the University of Arizona to pursue a business degree.

“I decided to come back to Tucson because the U of A had a better business school,” Miller said.

She began teaching elementary school—grades one, three and five at Booth-Fickett and Lawrence Elementary Schools. Later, she became a business and yearbook teacher at Palo Verde High School. Eventually, Miller earned a degree in education administration and became an assistant principal at Palo Verde for two years.

This is Miller’s third year as an administrator, and she said that she hopes to stay at Pueblo as long as she can.

One thing that she wants students to know is that she is approachable and that they can ask questions when they need help.

She added, “I want to learn all I can here at this wonderful Pueblo community. I’m truly excited to be here, and I just know it’s going to be an awesome year.”

Ms. Mandy McTavish: Welcome To Pueblo!

By Daniela Moreno

Ms. Mandy McTavish, our new Career and College Readiness Coordinator, can’t wait to help our Warrior student body get on the right path towards college and success.

McTavish has been counseling for eight years and reveals that she is very passionate about her job and dedicating her career to helping students.

McTavish said, “I’ve always loved helping students figure out how to solve their problems.”

Having grown up in an underprivileged home herself, she knows how difficult these goals might seem for some of us.

“When you [students] do have a goal and make a plan, it’s easy to be guided,” said McTavish.

Already, McTavish professes her love for Pueblo because our diversity and hopes to guide each student towards a better future.

She has advice for our students: “Find your passion, find out what you love, and I’ll help you get there.”

Recently, on Wednesday, September 14, McTavish helped to coordinate and host the 2016 College Fall Tour held in the South Gym, inviting all Pueblo seniors to talk to more than a dozen organizations (college, universities and a few military branches) regarding their post-high school careers. She also organized the “Tri-Universities” presentation on September 20 in which Arizona’s three universities spoke to seniors as well as offering them brochures and information about their colleges.

“I know that a lot of our seniors are scared about going out in the real world, but the earlier that our seniors know where they’re going, the more they can enjoy the rest of their high school days,” McTavish said.

She added, “Every senior is capable of greatness in their futures.”

Warriors Welcome Back Mrs. Kathryn Gunnels

By Angelita Delcido

The Pueblo community welcomes back Mrs. Kathryn Gunnels to the 2016-17 school year after three years of “taking a break” and pursuing other positions in the district.

She decided to return to Pueblo to teach freshman English. During her three-year departure from Pueblo, Gunnels kept in touch with several of her former students, but she still wanted to be back in the community full-time.

“I missed being able to work with students in the classrooms and seeing their progress,” Gunnels said. “I love teaching freshmen more than any other grade because they are full of enthusiasm and malleable.”

Although returning has been a happy event for her, Gunnels said that she did not miss all of the meetings and the paperwork involved in being a full-time teacher.

She added that the students, administrators and teachers are all part of her family.

“I love being at Pueblo,” Gunnels said. “There is no better school that I’ve ever worked at.”

Welcome Back, Mr. John Howe!

By Lauren Ahern and Nayeli Sanchez

As we near the end of this school year, it’s never too late to welcome back a former employee from Pueblo’s yesteryear. Mr. John Howe, a former Assistant Principal from the 2005-06 school year, has returned to Pueblo as a learning support coordinator.

Prior to being an Assistant Principal at Pueblo a decade ago, Howe worked at a number of schools all around Tucson as a Principal, Assistant Principal and as a middle school language arts and science teacher.

After a couple months off to try out a different career, Howe then decided to return to education.

“I reallymissed the school environment and working with students, faculty and staff,” Howe said.

As the Learning Support Coordinator (LSC), Howe said that his new position involves working with academic and discipline support. Howe also helps with peer mediations, strategizing how to improve students’ grades, and informing teachers about students’ specific needs.

Returning to Pueblo, Howe said, “Things haven’t changed here at Pueblo [since 2006], and that I’m happy to be back. Students are still courteous and respectful.”

Next year, Howe hopes to be back at the same job, although the position will be officially known as Multi-Tier System of Support (MTSS).

“I’ll be doing about the same things I’m doing now, which is ensuring the well-being of our students,” Howe said, “but I hope to be working with teachers more to reduce the number of referrals and to help teachers with classroom management strategies.”

Also, Howe is now managing all of the Youth On Their Own (YOTO) students.

“I really want to help students—and our staff—in any way possible,” he said. “I also like getting my share of exercise at this job, locating students and teachers in different classrooms across the campus. It’s a whole lot better than sitting at a desk all day.”

Warriors Receive Library Card, Access To Pima County Libraries

By Victor Garcia

New to Pueblo Magnet High School, librarian Ms. Marsha Jean Burrola issued library cards to Pueblo students on March 17, 2016.

Classes were invited to the library for four periods throughout the day, for a total of 10 classes. Burrola said that she had already been teaching research material to 12th graders, but wanted them to have access to more databases that Pima County public libraries can provide. By entering their card number and pin number, students gained an opportunity to have access to much more information.

Pueblo High School Librarian Marsha Jean Burrola

According to Burrola, about 170 Pueblo students received these cards, and about 70 thus far have signed up for the virtual library.

”I’d like for students to be aware of the resources available to them,” Burrola added.

She added that she was able to work with Mexican-American Studies Director Dr. Maria Figueroa and Pima Community Public Library (PCPL) in order to make the library card and virtual library a possibility at Pueblo. Normally, students under the age of 18 would need parent permission, but PCPL decided to give all students library cards in “real” time without parental permission. Students will be able to use these cards at any Pima County library as well as the internet.

Burrola stated that she wished that more students understood how being a part of this process could potentially help them with their academics. She also said that students should feel that they had to be a part of this program just because their teachers wanted them to have these opportunities.

“The opportunities to gain so much more information should be reward enough,” she said.

Burrola would love to offer our students more chances to sign up.

“I would love to continue this process [of getting more students signed up for this library card] in the fall,” Burrola said.