Meet the New Teachers on Campus

Ms. Balderama is a teacher here at SMHS who works for the Migrant Program and she also helps teach ELA Academy. She was a teacher before becoming a migrant teacher. The migrant program helps students to stay on track with school and helps the students any way they can. She also provides services like if they need extra classes in school to help the students graduate and stay on track. She does home...

Ms. Yamamoto is a new teacher here at SMHS We asked here these questions and her answers are as follow:  Ms. Yamamoto has taught at many schools because she has subbed at different schools mostly in Santa Paula. She went to college at Cal Poly for her undergrad where she studied animal science and went back to Cal Poly for her Masters Degree. She also studied abroad in New Zealand and Brazil ...

Ms. Willis is an AVID and English teacher. This is her second year at SMHS. This year has been her sixth year as an educator. "I love working with the young people at SMHS.  My students are awesome, and their honesty, intelligence, and humor spark joy," she said. She is currently a co-facilitator of GSA. "I think that holding space for students to experience and explore their identities and work colla...

  Ms. Taylor is an English and Advanced ELD Lab 1 teacher. She is one of the newer teachers here on campus and this is her second-year teaching in SMHS. SMHS is the only school Ms. Taylor has taught at. She did her student teaching at PV for a year. She went to Cal Poly for both her bachelor's degree, Master’s degree, and her teacher credentials. Her original major was English and she...

Ms. Zepeda is in her second year of teaching here at SM. She was a student teacher at PV for a year. She went to Cal Poly and did her credential program there. For high school  she went to Righetti. Ms. Zepeda didn't always plan to be a teacher. She said, "when I started [college] I didn't want to be a teacher because I was like, when I was in high school I didn't really have any teachers that I can...

Get to know Ms. Lambert in ten simple ways: Ms. Lambert has taught at Cal Poly, Heritage High School, and Sequoia High School. She went to college at Cal Poly. Ms. Lambert is not an alumnus of SMHS. Ms. Lambert's original college major was Pre-Med. Her plan wasn't to become a teacher. "Nope. I wanted to be a doctor." To handle quarantine Ms. Lambert became active; she went for hikes becaus...

Mrs. Olson Sanchez is one of the new teachers here at Santa Maria High school. She teaches English and is the yearbook adviser this year. I interviewed her to get to know her and find out about what she does outside of school. Mrs. Olson Sanchez has taught before, both in Minnesota and at Orcutt Academy. She went to the University of Wisconsin at Madison for her BA in English and theater education...

Ms. Olney is a social studies teacher that is quite new to SMHS. I asked her a variety of questions this week, which she gladly answered, and I learned a lot about her. Hopefully this can help you get to know her better, or maybe it can help you think of a conversation starter if you want to talk to her. As I previously stated, I asked her a few questions. I asked what college she went to and what...

Ms. Espinoza-Romero is a new teacher here at SMHS. Before she started teaching here, she was teaching at LAUSD. Ms. Espinoza-Romero is an alumnus of Santa Maria High School; she graduated in 2014. Originally, she wasn't planning to go to college, but since her parents wanted her to go, she did. She went to Allan Hancock College for two years, and then later moved to CSU Fullerton where she got her...

Ms. Carrillo, a new teacher here at SMHS, has been asked a few questions and her answers are as follows: Ms. Carrillo has taught at Pioneer Valley, Righetti, and Delta. Ms. Carrillo is an alumnus of SMHS; she went here for all four years and graduated back in 2011. Ms. Carrillo has studied both Spanish Language and Literature and also Sociology. Ms. Carrillo has known that she wanted to be...

Ms. Martinez is one of our new College and Career counselors. She was born and raised in Fresno and then she moved to the Bay Area in 2016 to be a counselor. She has worked as a counselor for six years. Ms. Martinez has a degree in criminology. She first studied at Fresno city college then transferred to Fresno State. She became a probation officer for about four years, but she didn't really like...

Mrs. Kathryn Piacentini is a math teacher here at SMHS. She has taught at Nordhoff High School and San Marcos High School. Mrs. Piacentini majored in math but didn't plan on becoming a teacher. When Mrs. Piacentini graduated college she didn't know what to do so she went on a five-month trip. She has been to Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. Her favorite place she has visited was Tonsai,...

Ms. Putney is an new teacher in the Special Education department here at SMHS. This is the first school she has taught at. Ms. Putney went to college at San Jose State. She has been here since 2015, but she hasn't always been a teacher.  Ms. Putney is an alumnus of Righetti high school. Her original major was Sociology and Criminology. Ms. Putney became a teacher last year, 2020, two weeks before...

  Mrs. Ries is in her second year of teaching History here at SMHS. Mrs. Ries was a long term sub and Librarian at Righetti High school before coming to teach here. Mrs. Ries got her Bachelor's degree at North Carolina State University and got her Master's degree and her teaching credential through National University. She went to Valley Christian Academy here in Santa Maria. Mr...

Mrs. Mitchell is a science teacher here at SMHS. Mrs. Mitchell is a great person. She likes helping kids with disabilities to help them be successful and be able to graduate; she loves working with students and doesn't hate anything about being a teacher. She's also taught at many other schools such as Bruce Elementary, Arellanes Jr. High, Grover Beach Elementary, and Judkins Middle School. Mrs....

Mr. Guerra a new Agriculture teacher here at SMHS has been interviewed and asked some questions and his responses are as follow: Mr. Guerra has taught many subjects in the AG department like welding and AG mechanics. Mr. Guerra said that for college he went to Fresno State. Mr. Guerra said that he isn't an alumnus of SMHS but he is an alumnus of the district he went to Righetti High School instead...

Mr. Basulto teaches Physics of the Universe. He is a football coach and an Assistant Athletic Director, and he is also part of the School Counseling Advisory Council Committee. He has taught at Pioneer Valley High School and at Orcutt Junior High School in the past. He went to UC Santa Barbara. His original major was Sociology. Mr. Basulto's plans were not always to be a teacher. He said, "I wanted...

Nela Steric is a new art teacher here at SMHS. Before teaching here, Mrs. Steric has taught before at Chaminade College Preparatory High school in West Hills for 17 years. She got her master's degree from California State University at Northridge (CSUN), and a Single Subject Teaching Credential at Mt. St. Mary's College in Los Angeles. She also graduated from an art academy in Europe. When asked...

Ms. Clabough is a first-year English teacher here at SMHS. She is also the book club adviser, along with Ms. Taylor. She has taught before but as a student teacher, and this is her first year as a full-time teacher. She has taught honors English and AVID as a student teacher at Fesler Jr High. She grew up in Santa Maria but isn't an alumnus here at our school. Ms. Clabough went to Hancock College...

Ms. Pavlich is an English teacher. She has taught at a middle school after graduating from Asbury University. Her original major was secondary education with an English emphasis. She has always wanted to become a teacher since she was little. During quarantine, she went outside a lot and did some online shopping, read, and watched plenty of Netflix. In her spare time, she likes to "hike, wine taste,...

Meet Mr. Hoffman. He is one of our new staff members at SMHS and works in the English department. He was born and raised in Orcutt and later graduated from Righetti High School in the class of 2012. He then went on to obtain his Bachelor's degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Although Mr. Hoffman has some teaching experience, this is the first year he is teaching as a formal teacher. Mr. Hoffman...

Mrs. Hernandez is one of the many new teachers at Santa Maria High School. This is her first year here and she teaches Biology and Physics of the Universe. She has also taught in Le Grand High School. Her original major was Ag Science. She went to Cal Poly for college. She is an alumnus here at SMHS. Mrs. Hernandez had always wanted to be a teacher since she was little. She first wanted to be an...

Ms. Watts is one of the many new teachers here at SMHS. She teaches Geometry and Algebra. She taught at Arroyo Grande High School before coming here. She graduated from UC Berkeley; her original major was math. Ms. Watts likes to go hiking, walking at the beach, spending time with her kids, playing board games with them, etc. She also likes to go to comedy shows and concerts. Luckily, Ms. Watts l...

Mrs. Bergstrom is our "EL Specialist." She supports the English Language Learners on campus. Mrs. Bergstrom is from Fresno, CA. She has a BA in English and an M.A. in English-Composition from Fresno State. She taught at Fresno State as a First-Year writing instructor during her M.A. program. She has also taught at Reedley College, Clovis Community College, and McLane High School. She said, "I also...