Ms. Kimberly Lamadrid is one of Pueblo High School’s new counselors, although this is not her first counseling position; she transferred from Lawrence Middle School after a year.
Lamadrid said that she was attracted to Pueblo because of its Latino community.
“I have immigrant parents, and I understand the different struggles of people,” said Lamadrid.
Like most employees at Pueblo, Lamadrid said that her work has been affected by Covid-19, and contacting students and their families has been challenging.
“I really miss the interaction between my students and me,” Lamadrid said.
When not helping students succeed, she coached Pueblo’s cross country earlier this semester.
“At least I got to interact with students during this [cross country] activity!” Lamadrid said.
Lamadrid said that running has always been a part of her life. During her middle school years, she would run around her neighborhood for fun, and later in high school she joined the cross country team; she even continued to run during her college years.
Despite the challenges of communicating online, Lamadrid said that she does see a future at Pueblo.
“I want to stay here as long as I can because the Pueblo community is a very exciting place.”
by Ismael Angulo, Getsemani Cazares and Easther Zazueta
Among the two dozen or so new teachers and staff members at Pueblo High School this school year, Ms. Taylor Hall is PHS’s newest math teacher—Algebra I to Freshmen, and Algebra to Response to Intervention (RTI) Freshmen and Sophomores.
Hall grew up in Iowa, but she moved to California to earn her undergraduate degree at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Immediately following completion of her bachelor’s degree, she attended Stanford University where she earned her graduate degree. Hall looked for a teaching position in California, but she said that she did not find the “right fit”. Taylor moved to Tucson because she had family here, and she decided to try to find a job in Southern Arizona.
“Mr. Rosthenhausler [principal of Pueblo] reached out and asked me to interview,” Hall said. “The more I looked at Pueblo, I felt like the culture really matched where I wanted to be.”
Hall, like all teachers at Pueblo thus far this school year, have been teaching online. She said that she will gladly return to the classroom when it is safe for her and her students, but unlike many teachers, Hall seems to have a positive outlook regarding online instruction.
“I really like teaching online,” she said. “I really enjoy using the technology and the tools to teach with the computer.”
Hall has some advice for seniors applying to colleges.
“I never got to know any of my high school teachers very well,” Hall said, “and getting letters of recommendation was very hard. I recommend that students choose teachers they get along with and like—and to keep those relationships continuing because they might need them even after the school year is over.”
We lost our fair share of teachers at the end of the last school year—many to retirements and transfers. These vacancies had to be filled, and so Pueblo High School has many new teachers for the 2020-21 school year.
One of these new educators is Ms. Sibel Duzenli, who is teaching beginning and advanced art.
“I am so excited to be at Pueblo,” she said. “I already think Pueblo is an amazing school, and all of the teachers I have met are kind and hard-working people.”
Duzenli has not always been an art teacher. In fact, she began her teaching career at a summer camp math class teaching elementary school students in her native British Columbia, Canada. She then moved to Tucson to pursue her master’s degree in Art and Visual Culture Education.
“I got tired of the rainy weather in B.C.,” she said, “and combined with the fact that my husband is from Tucson, we made the decision to come to Arizona.”
After moving to Southern Arizona, Duzenli taught at an alternative program in TUSD. Afterwards, she started teaching art for middle school students. Then, she made the transition to high school students at Pueblo.
“I always loved school, and I respected my teachers for their hard work,” she said.
Duzenli said that her teachers were excellent role models, and she was inspired by their professionalism.
“Art was always my favorite subject, and if the world did not have art, our planet would be a sadder, less joyful place,” she said. “I really believe that art helps students express themselves and to learn more about themselves—and others.” She paused and added, “I want to help students with that self-learning process.”
Duzenli said, “I think art is an incredible way for humans to express themselves, and I want to be a part of making that possible [for students].”
“I felt pretty sad in the beginning of the year knowing I wasn’t going to meet students in person,” said Duzenli. “But I am still really excited to be here at Pueblo.”
She thinks that students should remember that high school is an opportunity to grow, meet new people and make mistakes.
“We’re living through a very significant time in history,” Duzenli said, “and we’re learning so much as a culture and as human beings. I know online instruction isn’t going to last forever, and I can’t wait to share the same space as my students.”
She added, “Even though it’s a very overwhelming time, it’s very heartening to know that we’re all going through this strange time together,” she added. “So even though we feel disconnected sometimes, I often feel more connected because we’re in this history—together.”
On December 17, 2019, Pueblo High School hired football head coach Mr. Jacob Allen. Coach Allen has been a teacher for three years and a high school football coach for 11 years.
Coach Jake Allen talks to team.
He started his career at Ironwood Ridge High School and coached for 10 years before coaching at Mountain View for one year. Then he decided to come coach here at Pueblo. This is his first year as a varsity head coach.
“Teaching at Pueblo is the only job I applied for,” said Allen. “Pueblo was everything I was looking for. Pueblo has a very strong community and rich history.”
Allen said that he had an interesting life before coming to Pueblo. After graduating high school, he wanted to join the military, but an injury from football made him unable to join.
“My family has always been involved in the community and has been involved with the military,” he said. “I needed to find another way to contribute to my community.”
After graduating from the University of Arizona, he became a government/economics teacher but eventually became a math and weight training teacher.
On his first day hired as coach, Allen held a meeting with his players, and he talked about his coaching strategies as well as defined his expectations for his new team.
He said, “I wanted the team to know that we were going to simplify the game, become explosive, be hard-hitting and to let the team know that they will be disciplined.”
Coach Allen also stressed that his players have to value their academics to be eligible to play.
“Earning high grades is always a priority,” he said.
Coach Allen said that he believes that the effort he and the team put in class, will reflect how we play on the field and believes that whoever we are on the field and in the classroom, is a reflection of who we are as a person.
For a few months, playing football this school year looked like a long shot because of the Covid-19 pandemic. On August 17, the football team was given the green light to start Phase 1: to practice in small 7-person pods. A few weeks later, players were given the green light to start Phase 2 in which players could practice as a whole team.
“I know there are rumors going around right now that might indicate that we may not have a season,” said Allen. “However, as of right now, it’s not a matter of if we’ll have a season, it’s when.”
Allen said, “Life is never easy. Sometimes it will come up and smack you in the face. No matter how hard and difficult it may seem, you can overcome those obstacles. No matter what obstacles you face, ninety-nine percent of the time someone will help you attack those obstacles. So stay strong and be patient because pretty soon, those obstacles will no longer be there.”
Despite the unusual circumstances of this school year—teaching online for the foreseeable future—Pueblo High School still has its share of new teachers and staff, including Ms. Lucero Ramirez, who is teaching freshman English.
Ramirez, who said that she would rather teach in person than online because students could do more activities in the classroom, said that she will make the most out of ZOOM sessions.
“It’s been very stressful teaching online,” Ramirez said. “It’s very complicated, but I am getting the hang of it.”
Ramirez is happy to return to Pueblo because it’s her alma mater. She graduated in 2016, just four years ago, and said that even after she graduated, she didn’t want to leave.
“It’s good to be back home and being the teacher this time,” she said.
She added that she chose to become an English teacher because of her positive experiences in her own high school English classes.
“I loved writing in high school,” Ramirez said, “and I want to share that love with students.”
She added, “Ms. [Kelly] Crane [who retired from Pueblo several years ago] inspired me to become an English teacher because she was always understanding, patient and thoughtful. She really took the time to coach and mentor me. I really loved going to her class every day.
Ramirez said that she is happy to have chosen education as a career, but she said that she wishes public education would invest more money and time to have more resources to address students’ emotional and mental issues.
“I think that a student’s overall well-being is a critical factor in their academic success. I think we would start seeing more enthusiasm for learning from our students.”
Online or back in the classroom, Ramirez said that she is very enthusiastic about beginning her teaching career at Pueblo.
Pueblo High School welcomes the new football coach, Mr. Jacob Allen, to our
community. Allen was born and raised in Tucson, and he expressed that he always
wanted to become the head coach of a team that represents Tucson on the State
level.
“Pueblo has an incredible community and rich history which made the job
impossible to pass up,” Allen said.
He added that he has big plans for Pueblo’s varsity football program.
“I want to build a program that competes with the very best in our State at
the 4A level year in and year out,” Allen said. “Our goal every year is to
qualify for the State playoffs and compete with the best in the state once we
get there.”
He already has next year’s football program practicing for about an hour
every day after school, Monday through Friday.
Truly, Allen said that he is “incredibly excited” to have this position as a
new coach and hopes to inspire his players.
“I want to let my actions speak louder than my words,” Coach Allen said. “I
am here every day, working with our athletes to get them better and prepared
for the fall. I expect a lot out of our players, and I try to hold myself to
the same standards when it comes to enthusiasm and effort.”
