TONY GUERRERO
Have you ever wondered what your teacher’s backstory was for why they teach the subject that they teach today?
Tony is a math teacher here at Lagunitas community Middle school. This is the reason behind his decision of pursuing math at Langunitas, instead of science at another school.
In the beginning Tony wanted to be a psychologist, so he went to business school but he did not know if it was not the right job for him. Whatever it was, that job did not sit right with him. It turned out that it was not the school or a bad decision, it was in fact the teacher that was messing him up and bothering him. Tony was always good at math, it was what helped him in school. He liked science, he liked all the cool facts and the mysteries that are always going to be unknown. The only thing that he liked more about math than science, was that math always had one answer, you just had to learn how the numbers worked. In science there are multiple answers, it was hard to keep track, although he enjoyed science he liked math more and he was better at it.
So he got the idea to be a math teacher. He wanted to teach High School, but there is an opening at Lagunitas Community Middle School. In 2017 he became a math teacher at Lagunitas. Tony says that he pushes us in a realistic way, because he knows that when we go to high school things will be more difficult, so he decided that it would be better to teach a little advanced, and we could not worry as much once we got to High School.
Tony believes that Lago kids are more prepared when they move up to high school. I had to agree with Tony when he said that work pays off, one thing that Tony has realized throughout the years was that more Lago kids that go to Archie or any High School do an elective that calls for leadership. He makes sure that he understands our levels and gives us more attention, because we are a smaller community. Tony hopes that it is true that Lagunitas students are more prepared for high school because he helped them. I know it is true for some people that Tony takes time to make sure everybody understands what he is teaching, and if they need help he will help them.
Something that Tony wanted to make sure that every kid knows is:
“You have to invest and take time to what you want to learn so you can be prepared and be able to have multiple opportunities, just make sure to save some time and room to have fun.” That is how we got an amazing math teacher like Tony to work at Lagunitas Community Middle school.
KATHERINE SANFORD
Our amazing humanities teacher Katherine Sanford joined Lagunitas Community Middle School in 2017.
At first Katherine did not know what she wanted to do as a job, she eventually decided that she would move to San Francisco California.
As a child Katherine wanted to be a lot of things when she grew up, she wanted to travel, she wanted to be a mom (which she is now), she wanted to be a fashion designer and make clothes, she wanted to be a president, and an actress. Now Katherine had no idea what she wanted to be.
She ended up teaching first grade and kindergarten at San Veron. When she became a teacher, there was a law made that said No Child Left Behind, which was a law that made it so teaching was standardized everywhere. Katherine had a script to teach from, it felt like she was in a play reading off of the script. She could hear the teachers from behind the paper thin walls saying that she was about to say something off of the script.
Katherine decided that that was an outrageous way to teach. She quit her job and moved to the East Coast in Connecticut.
In 2004 she taught yoga and had three kids of her own, with her three kids she moved back to California to a small town named Woodacre. Katherine’s teaching degree was about to expire, she was telling that to her new friend Alex. Alex helped change Katherine’s mind so she started working at Lagunitas Montessori, she taught 3rd and 4th grade. She did not want to teach Middle School because they scared her, a lot. In 2017 Katherine decided to change her mind and teach Middle School now that it scared her a little less.
Katherine said that the hardest part about teaching Middle School is when they graduate, in three years she builds a connection with them, and when they leave she misses them. Katherine loves to see them when they’re older, even if it’s scary how much they’ve grown so much. She is so happy when she sees a Lagunitas kid be successful, she believes that every kid she teaches becomes an amazing person. One of the biggest differences that Katherine sees when a previous Lagunitas kid comes back to visit, is their confidence. Their confidence grows and Katherine can tell.
In Middle School Katherine wanted to join the lacrosse team, but in order to do that she had to run 2 miles in 14 minutes, which is a lot of running. Katherine learned about herself in 1987 that running helps her concentrate, and now Katherine either runs or works out every morning before going to school so she has the right mindset and is ready for the day. That is how we got such an awesome humanities teacher Katherine Sanford. We are so lucky to have her at Lagunitas Community Middle School.
ANDREW ELSON
Our great science and PE teacher Andrew Elson.
Have you ever wondered why Andrew became a science teacher? Well that thought is going to come to an end because I’m here to tell you why he did become a teacher. As a small boy Andrew wanted to be a fire fighter or an astronaut but that’s just an average kid job. In high school he wanted to be a history teacher but ended up deciding against that. Later during covid he wanted to be a nurse.
He became an outdoor teacher and taught snowboarding, backpacking, and rock climbing. He first started this work when he was in eastern Washington.
He lived in a tent in New Mexico and proceeded to teach outside. He became a teacher because he thought that teaching kids would be fun. He began teaching at a school called “Tapanga Mountain School” before he came to lagunitas to teach. He has been teaching for 6 years. Andrew loves backpacking and volcanoes; he’s a great geologist and bike rider. He says that bike riding helps him regulate his stress and get him through hard times.
