New Year, New Staff
BLY
Peninsula’s English department recently gained a new English 1 and 2 Honors teacher, Tracey Bly. As a Peninsula graduate of the class of 1989, Bly wanted to return to the district she grew up in. Previously, Bly worked at Palos Verdes High School for five years and Palos Verdes Intermediate School for one year before transferring to Peninsula. Bly knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher and believes that everyone should receive a strong education.
Bly’s goal is to expand the genres that her students read to include science fiction and fantasy, not limited to the typical historical fiction novels students are often required to read; she also aims to expose students to other cultures through her curriculum.
“I am meeting with every class every day, and I have a lot of communication with [the students],” Bly said. “This year particularly, I plan on knowing about the students’ lives. I think that once the [students] realize that I am on their side and want them to achieve [in class], they will [become more] inspired.”
KIM
World History and United States History teacher Charles Kim is the newest staff member to Peninsula’s history department. Kim graduated from Peninsula in 2013, and when given the opportunity to return from his studies at University of California, Irvine, he gladly took the offer. After being taught by Peninsula teachers like Collette Dunn-Kottke, Don Frazier and Scotte Massey, Kim was inspired to become a teacher himself and participate in the educational experience that Peninsula has to offer and that he had.
“Teaching is one of [the careers] I have always wanted to pursue,” Kim said. “When I committed to teaching and looked for job [opportunities], I realized I wanted to give back to the community that gave me so much growing up.”
Now that Kim is a teacher at Peninsula, he hopes to provide the same quality of education that he experienced firsthand to his students. Kim is still getting to know his students and establish a routine, but he is delighted to call himself a Panther once more.
LO IACONO
As a new school year starts at Peninsula, Catherine Lo Iacono is also the newest addition to the main office staff as the principal’s secretary. Recently, she has been working closely with Brent Kuykendall and attending many phone calls and meetings to discuss possibilities for the 2020-21 school year.
“We have been instructing teachers and making sure that everyone, [parents, teachers and staff] included, are aware of the upcoming changes as we continue into this [school year],” Lo Iacono said. “I still do not know what a normal work day looks like, but [what keeps me motivated] is the hope that we will get to see students at school soon.”
Although this year was not what she had imagined and she still does not know what the future holds, Lo Iacono is taking many measures to assist everyone involved at Peninsula to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. A believer in the significance of a proper education as something that will grow with you forever, Lo Iacono is delighted to be a part of the Peninsula staff.
VAN ENK
Last year, when Athletic Director Wendell Yoshida chose to retire, former Calculus teacher and varsity girls and boys golf coach Glenn Van Enk was hired to replace the Athletics Director position at the beginning of this school year. Van Enk has been a Peninsula staff member for 24 years, and he wanted to expand his horizons from the Education Department of Peninsula and into Athletic Administrations this year.
With the upcoming athletics seasons being pushed to Jan. 2021, Van Enk has been occupied with solidifying the transition to in-person practices for sports teams. Specifically, he has been focusing on organizing the fall sports practices, such as football, so they are still prepared for the upcoming season.
“Things are more [uncertain] than they have ever been, and although I wish the circumstances were different and our sports programs have had to adapt,” Van Enk said. “We are currently trying to put together protocol so that kids can hopefully start practicing soon and are hoping that [athletes] can play some games.”
QUESADA
Crestina Quesada is the new special education teacher at Peninsula. She originally taught at Peninsula for five years before teaching at Ridgecrest Intermediate School for two years. After missing the Peninsula community, Quesada decided to return.
Quesada has always known that she wanted to work in education, but she knew that she wanted to be behind-the-scenes. Specifically, her passion is to tailor help toward students who need extra support, including students with specific learning disabilities such as attention-deficit disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism. During coronavirus online learning, she uses the Microsoft Teams chat frequently to communicate regularly with her students. Quesada views this Teams function as valuable and vital to assisting students who need that additional support.
“The needs of students are many, and [I am not] just [focused] on a
general education path,” Quesada said. “My line of work is more specific to each student, and [I] get to work with the families as well.”
CARRILLO
During the transition into distance learning at Peninsula, the technology staff recruited Jose Carrillo as a technology aid. Having past experience in working with Google Classroom, Carrillo has been focused on fully learning and understanding the functions of several new platforms, including Microsoft Teams, which is what Peninsula is enforcing the use of. Carrillo’s main job is to address any issues that may arise from the application of Microsoft Teams, along with answering questions from Peninsula students or teachers.
“With this pandemic comes a lot of [learning] and adjusting to the new school system,” Carrillo said. “To help students during this time, [the tech staff holds] one-on-one calls with them to fix the technology issues that they may come across.”
Carrillo has been taking steps during this distanced learning period to ensure that teachers are learning the basics of Microsoft Teams’s camera, microphone and screen-sharing settings. While doing so, Carrillo is adjusting to his role on the Peninsula faculty by collaborating with his fellow staff members. Despite the lack of a conventional, in-person welcome, he is excited to get to know Peninsula through the screen.
RODRIGUEZ
Therapist Maria Rodriguez is a new addition to Peninsula’s mental health support team. Rodriguez graduated from the Master’s program at California State University, Los Angeles, where she studied School-Based Family Counseling. As a school therapist, she hopes to help students understand how important mental health is. She believes that especially now during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, students need that extra mental health support to help them succeed during an online start to the school year.
This year, the school counseling team at Peninsula has a Microsoft Forms link on the school website that anyone can fill out any time to get in contact with the mental health support team. This resource ensures that any student can receive immediate help when needed.
“We are going to be doing presentations in every single English class to ensure that every student will [know our contact information] and [the importance of maintaining good] mental health,” Rodriguez said. “My goal is for every student who comes into contact with me to feel seen, heard, understood and not alone. That is what is most important to me: building those connections.”
LLOYD
This year, Peninsula’s music program hired a new team member, Mike Lloyd, to direct the school’s jazz band, marching band and concert band. Last year, previous music director Fred Steiner resigned after teaching at Peninsula for 16 years, opening a new spot. Lloyd applied for the position because of Peninsula’s reputation of high-achieving students and its award-winning music program.
Lloyd’s inspiration to become a teacher came from his seventh grade music teacher, Maurice O’Kelly, who nurtured his love for music. He later majored in music education at California State University Dominguez Hills, focusing on percussion and drums. After graduating from college, Lloyd worked as the percussion director with O’Kelly at North Torrance High School, his alma mater; this allowed Lloyd to teach the job that first inspired him. However, as the school only offered a small band, Lloyd decided to move to Peninsula, where larger programs were offered.
“I really want to continue to grow the [music] program and [continue to] do the things that the program has already been doing,” Lloyd said. “I want to get [the students] out and perform a lot. It is all about what the kids want to do, because the kids [develop] the program and [choose what they want to do.]”
