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Poway School, Community and Student Events and Announcements Events
Announcements
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Testimonials from those Affected This page is dedicated to those citizens of the Poway community that are affected by this budget crisis. This page is designed to provide these individuals within the community a voice as to how this crisis is affecting them. Although there are many stories, only some of them have been listed and they will be updated and rotated on a weekly basis. Scott Wild - Westview Teacher This is my 8th year in education. I came to the Poway district this year, after having traveled for 2 years working with an educational company. I sought stability in returning to the classroom, and really found it in PUSD and Westview. As someone who just got engaged to an amazing woman, I really felt like this would be a place of permanence - not only in my career, but able to buy a house and raise a family in Poway.
Instead, after my wedding on August 16th, my fiancée and I have no idea where we will be or what we will do for work. We can't just find a new teaching job in the area. We've thought of moving overseas. Others have encouraged me to leave the profession, but I am too steadfast in my convictions.
Regardless, living in uncertainty is simply frustrating to the point of having sleepless nights. We have to put buying a house on hold, starting a family is also on hold. I don't want to leave San Diego - her family is here. It is where we consider our home to be. But we may have to - all because a very unnecessary game of political football is being played at the expense of real people with real dreams who are facing real problems and not getting real answers.
Jeff Friedenberg
- Twin Peaks Middle School
My name is Jeff Friedenberg. I'm 24
years old and a first year, 6th grade Language Arts, Social
Studies and Science teacher at Twin Peaks Middle School. My
contract expires at the end of the term. After that, I will be
without a job.
I am here today, doing what I love because of the excellent teachers I had growing up in PUSD. In 5th grade my parents divorced and my world went into a tailspin. In 6th grade, I enrolled at Twin Peaks and over the course of the 3 years I spent there, my excellent teachers, counselors and administrators helped turn my life around. One of those teachers was Melodie Johnson who recently passed away. Mrs. Johnson was my 8th grade Language Arts teacher who sparked a love for learning that I have never lost. She challenged me and never let me settle for anything less than my full potential. It is this same ethic and standard that I bring to my classroom.
After graduation, I moved back home to Poway to look for a "job." I didn't want to be a teacher at first because it's the "family business." My mom's a teacher, my dad was a teacher, my uncle's a principal, my aunts were all teachers, I wanted to be something different. But, in order to start paying off my thousands of dollars in student loans, I found a day job as an Instructional Assistant for an ELL class at Black Mountain and as a 1 on 1 aide in Special Education. At nights I waited tables at Chili's. After being in the classroom,interacting with the students and seeing the effect I had on their lives, I knew teaching was for me.
Joy Esteban
- 2nd Grade - Stone Ranch Elementary
Here's my story ...
21 years ago, my parents moved to
Rancho Penasquitos with the specific intention that I would
have the opportunity to receive an education from the
much-acclaimed Poway Unified School District. As a graduate
of Mt. Carmel High School, I knew that someday I would become
a teacher. My parents had hoped that I would return to PUSD,
but I knew that getting in would be competitive.
Upon receiving my credential 10
years ago, Long Beach Unified was the first to give me a shot
in the classroom where I learned the ins and outs of what it
takes to succeed and to make a difference as a teacher. After
3 years with Long Beach and 2 years with San Diego Unified, my
opportunity to return to PUSD finally came. A couple of
parents who were transferring their children to Stone Ranch
Elementary encouraged me to apply. I was fortunate enough to
be brought on board to open up the school in 2004.
From the moment that I stepped foot
in the Personnel office to sign my temporary contract, I knew
that there was something distinctly different about Poway
Unified that set them apart from where I came. It was
personal and I was treated like a professional. In fact,
within the first week of school, Bill Chiment, the Assistant
Superintendent of Personnel Services, dropped by my classroom
for a visit and left a handwritten note thanking me for the
opportunity to see "real learning in action."
Since then, the children of Stone
Ranch Elementary have become a major part of my life. I don't
just teach them how to read, write, and do math. We learn how
to be the best people we can be ... together. I have watched
them read chapter books for the first time, figure out how to
do multiple-digit addition and subtraction, and write
incredible stories of make believe places and true life
experiences. I have watched them lose their first tooth,
make their first double play in baseball, and perform hip-hop
routines for the talent show. I have comforted them when
their mother passed away from cancer, when their dad left for
a 6-month deployment to Iraq, and when their pet hamster ran
away. In return, they celebrated with me when I received my
masters degree, gave birth to my second child, and when my
daughter was finally potty-trained. They also comforted me
when my friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, when my
grandmother passed away, and when I received my pink slip.
To many of my students, past and
present, I am someone who is constant to them. They know
where to find a hug, words of encouragement, a shoulder to cry
on, a lecture for misbehavior, and someone who genuinely cares
for them. With the pink slip that I was given last Wednesday,
that constant is now uncertain.
Financially, I will be okay. Like
most of us, I don't teach for the money. It's never been
about the money. It's about being there for the children.
What saddens me the most is the thought that my students will
no longer have the opportunity to come back to their 2nd grade
teacher to talk about the books that they're reading, share
the news of new siblings, rave about their 3rd (4th, 5th,
etc.) grade teacher, and complain about how much harder (or
easier) things are. I hate thinking about how this may be the
end ... for now.
Thanks for listening ...
Mike Woodward
- Westview Head Football
Coach
Exercise/Nutritional Science
Teacher
My story in a quick nutshell is I moved a family of five 1,000 miles away from the state of Washington. The move itself with rental deposits etc. cost us $10,000 and that's not even mentioning the mental toll it took on our two high school aged kids. Part of the reason this is so devastating is the fact that we are so happy with the move and our situation in San Diego. We couldn't ask for a better place to live. On a personal note, we got this football program on its feet and the kids, coaches, parents, staff, and community are very excited. The thought of us not being able to continue what we have started is beyond upsetting. Leaving Westview is not an option for me! I love these kids and I can't imagine not being their teacher/coach! I will be sleeping in the container next to the field next fall if I have to, unfortunately the rest of the family can't fit in there and probably won't allow it. Therefore, like the rest of our teaching crew across the state, we wait in the madness of uncertainty and pray that things will somehow work out. I have hope, and right now that's all I've got. This isn't much of a story but I guess every little bit helps.
Kori Smyth
- 5th Grade, Pomerado
Elementary
After teaching in Connecticut for four and a half year, my
husband accepted a job in San Diego. I only applied to teach
in PUSD, because of its reputation as being top in the county,
not only for students, but for teachers. I even accepted a
year of impact teaching because I knew Poway was where I
wanted to teach. The opportunities that Poway has offered me
in the last three years have been amazing. Through Poway's
support for their teachers, I was able to get my Master's
(well, almost- I'm a class away- had to put it on hold when I
had my baby in June), I have gone to countless professional
development workshops to further my own knowledge of our
profession, and, what I consider to be a huge accomplishment,
I applied for and was granted National Board Certification. I
would not have been able to achieve any of this if I were
working in another district.
In June my husband and I welcomed our first child. We want to
be able to provide him with the exceptional life that he
deserves. But his mom is a teacher who was pink slipped, and,
like you and your fiancée, my husband and I don't know what
next year will hold for us. We are home owners, and we wonder
how we're going to pay our mortgage next year. Furthermore,
do I want my son going to school in a few years with 29 other
kindergarteners in his class? Will he be served as well as he
should be?
I know we'll be OK, things will work out, but is it fair? No.
I've worked so hard to get to where I am right now, just a few
months away from finally being tenured, in a district that has
invested so much in me and my career, only to be used, as you
put it so well, as a political football. It's pathetic.
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