Moreno Valley High School employes 16 fulltime, part-time, adjunct and contract employees. The teaching faculty has experience ranging from 3 years in the classroom to 43 years of teaching experience. Degrees range from a B.A. through a Ph.D. One of the true strengths of the faculty is the background experience they bring to the educational setting. Read on to find out what a diverse group this really is!
JACQUE BOYD DIRECTOR
I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. My mother was a teacher, my aunts and uncles were teachers and my grandfather was a teacher. I have chalk dust in my veins.
I received my B.A. in Elementary Education and Special Education from Hastings College, in Hastings, Nebraska – my hometown. My first teaching position was as a first grade teacher in Grand Island, Nebraska. In 1973 I earned my pilot’s license. Nebraska had a very active aerospace education community and so I made the decision to stay in education rather than go the route of commercial aviation. In 1979 I was awarded the Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship and moved to Murfreesboro, Tennessee where I earned my M.Ed. in Aerospace Education and Administration.
I moved to the Dallas/Ft.Worth area and began teaching in the Hurst/Euless/Bedford school system. I began work on my Ph.D. at the University of North Texas in 1986 and left the public school classroom. I finished my degree in 1990 with my dissertation emphasis in science, aerospace education and administration.
In 1991 I started my own business, Aero Infosearch which specialized in writing maternity policy for female pilots and independent research into aviation related topics. As a full-time writer I moved to Angel Fire in 2003. The Director of MVHS at the time, Michael Strong asked me if I wanted to teach an aviation class. I jumped at the offer. The next year I taught two aviation classes. As I continued to teach aviation I watched Directors come-and-go and made the decision to apply when the position once again became open in 2007. Be careful what you wish for – 2011 marks my fifth year as Director!
BARBARA BROWNING DEAN OF STUDENTS
Introduction to Seminar, AP US History, AP World History, NM History
From my father reading Carl Sandburg’s Lincoln as a bedtime story, to reading all of the orange biographies in the local library, to a field trip that had me standing on Custer’ Last Stand Battle Field, to reading James Michener, to a college research paper using primary documents to compare Indian Treaties of Wyoming: I was destined to love history. From teaching in Wyoming, to Alaska, to New Mexico, I found teenagers in all these places fascinating, humorous, and ready to learn history. The Bay Area Writing Project (now the National Writing Project), Socratic Seminar, and Moreno Valley High School all changed my style of teaching to teaching students how to learn, rather than what to learn. Teaching history to teenagers is my passion.
LINDA COLENDA Spanish, Latin, English 10
I was the one who actually liked studying grammar in English class. I was the one who struggled through six years of Latin because my parents thought it was a good idea (it was!). I was the one who majored in Russian because French was too easy. I’m the one who plays word games for entertainment. I was the one who said she would never be a teacher. Some things change, but my fascination with languages remains strong. It’s like a puzzle that has an answer and a purpose. Professor David Christian, inventor of the concept of “big history”, says that humans are different from other creatures and have evolved to such a degree of complexity because they have “symbolic language” and a system of grammar to make the transfer of ideas efficient. This is what intrigues me about the study and teaching of English and other languages. I feel that most people are not adequately appreciative of this ability nor aware of the responsibility that it entails. Paideia and the new Common Core Standards target the development of the type of critical thinking and communication skills that are requisite for success in tomorrow’s world and will hopefully lead students to a better understanding of their place in it. That’s why I teach.
DICK GEMOETS THE TECH GUY
Dick, who takes care of all MVHS computers and network infrastructure, considers New Mexico his home state, having grown up in southern NM. He earned his BS in Math at New Mexico State University then hightailed it to California where he lived most of his adult life, earning an MS at University of Southern California and raising 6 children. Most of his career was spent in Silicon Valley, including 8 years with Apple Computer. After tiring of Internet start-ups and crashes, he “retired” to his first retirement job in Sedona, AZ, teaching “Digital Media Arts” at Sedona HIgh School and earning 15 post-graduate units at Northern AZ University in education. But New Mexico called and after 5 years of teaching high school, he “retired” again to Angel Fire. By now the merging of education and computers was in ingrained in his blood so his long association with MVHS and Taos Academy Charter School began and lasts to this day.
DONNA GOSS Communications Instruction, Resource, Art
I first learned to draw a real tree when I was 9 years old. A friend taught me the way her art teacher had shown her. I was fascinated with the fact that you could make a picture look so real with a pencil and notebook paper. That began my long and often tumultuous relationship with art as an integral part of my life. From there I went on to created hand turkeys for my friends to give to their mother’s. I hit the big time in high school when I began painting on my friends blue jeans.
I attended the University of Houston and graduated with a B.F.A. in Graphic Communications. I worked as a graphic artist for newspapers in Houston. My life changed one day when I took a job as a substitute teacher. I found a new love.
I have relatives with learning disabilities and became very interested in how those difficulties were addressed in our schools. I began a new profession as a special education teacher in Texas.
I have found ways to combine my love of art with my love of teaching. There are always situations that call for a little creativity to boost the lesson! At this point in time, I am teaching Art as well as Special Education classes. I must admit, there are times when I accompany the lessons with drawings to illustrate a point!
HENRIETTA (HENRI) JACOBS Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy
I have always loved science. My first magazine subscription when I was a young teenager was Discover. It was my seventh grade science teacher however, Mr. Stevenson, who helped me believe I was good at it. He gave me the confidence I needed to continue studying science and that is ultimately what I did. After graduating from Oregon State University with a B.S. in Pharmacy, I worked as a registered pharmacist for Long’s Drugs (which was sold to Osco) in Arizona. My favorite part of the job involved teaching patients about their medication, such as what were the possible side-effects; were there any drug interactions; and how the medicine works.
Then came marriage and children. I stopped working to follow my husband overseas. First to England, then on to Holland and Hungary. When my youngest entered pre-school, I concentrated on getting a Post-graduate Certificate of Education and was able to gain experience in the international schools (International School of Amsterdam and International School of Budapest). This was what I wanted to do.. teach high school science.
Now both my children are grown and gone (almost) and I am happily teaching in Angel Fire, New Mexico – at MVHS. I love the small classes and great kids. I have an administrator who supports my program, so even though the classroom is in a ‘trailer’, when you step inside, it is a lab! I’m currently teaching biology, chemistry and anatomy & physiology, all of which are highly exploratory and hands-on classes. I hope my students pick up on the excitement and wonder of science and that I can pass along the confidence that was given to me, way back in seventh grade.
MIRANDA JONES World History, US History, Senior Portfolio, Economics
I enrolled in college at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri the spring of my senior year in high school, basically because it was an inexpensive state school and I was poor. When I registered in the fall I was told I had to declare a major. Not really knowing what I wanted to do, but knowing I liked history more than any other subject, I decided to declare that as a major, thinking that I could always change it when I figured out what I wanted to do. Though in four years of college I never quite figured out what I wanted to do I kept that major, because my love of history just seemed to grow with each class I took. I was fortunate to have some really great professors, professors that actually lectured rather than their teaching assistants.
So I graduated in four years summa cum laude with a BA in history from Northwest Missouri State University. Ideally, I should have worked on a teacher certification while there as Maryville was known as a teacher college, but I stubbornly resisted because I thought I would just automatically seek a teaching position after graduation and I always thought that teaching was something that you should really want to do. At that the time I didn’t think I wanted to become a teacher. That would come much later. First I had to work for two years in jobs that I didn’t find fulfilling and backpacking across Europe, Morocco and Turkey before I realized that I did in fact want to teach and naturally I wanted to teach history.
I enrolled in the University of Missouri, Kansas City and began the long process of getting my teaching certification. It would have been so much easier to have taken care of my certification at Maryville, but such is life. After two and a half years and a really rough stint in an inner city school I finally had my secondary teaching certification. As luck would have it that would be the time of what I call “the great Social Studies teacher glut.” In other words there were about five to six Social Studies teachers for every opening. Nothing to do but head west.
My first teaching job was at Jeddito Middle School on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona. It was 75 miles to the nearest bank and a little over two hours to a town with a movie theater. Cable TV? Forget about it. The only radio reception was from a Navajo station out of Gallup. As I spoke no Navajo I just couldn’t ever appreciate it. Still, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I was there for three years and planned to return for a fourth, but due to personal reasons I needed to return to Kansas City where I was lucky enough to get a teaching position in the inner city.
When I moved here many moons ago, there wasn’t a school in Angel Fire and one lone social studies position at Eagle Nest Middle School, which was filled. I thought my teaching days were over. Then a charter school was started here almost ten years ago and a little over four years ago, I saw in the paper that they needed a part time history teacher so I applied and the rest is history.
DEBRA LEDFORD Physical Education, Lifeskills, Athletic Director
NO BIO
TAMMY MACCALOUS Advanced Math, AP Calculus
My name is Tammy Maccalous and I teach Honors Advanced Math and AP Calculus at MVHS. Until 2010, I lived and taught math in Littleton Colorado. A true Colorado girl, skiing and the outdoors are very important to me, so I love being here in Northern New Mexico.
I graduated with a BS in Mathematics from Metropolitan State College in Denver, and taught mathematics at Arapahoe Community College while obtaining my teaching certificate. I then started my long teaching career in Jefferson County Schools. I earned my MA in Computers in Education while teaching at Bear Creek High School, where I was department chair for 17 years. I taught a range of classes during my 23 years at BCHS—remedial math through Advanced Placement BC Calculus. I became a Math Content Specialist for Jeffco from 2008-2010, where I wrote math curriculum, trained teachers and provided professional development. I also worked on secondary high school reform for Jefferson County Schools. I retired from Jeffco in 2010.
ALEXANDRA STERNHAGEN English 9, English 11/12, AP Literature, Honors
English, Yearbook
Alexandra was raised in Montana and has lived and taught all over the US as well as in Chile. A graduate of the University of Iowa, she has taught AP Literature, AP Language, IB Theatre Arts, English 6-12, Journalism (both Yearbook and Newspaper), ESL, and Drama. Recreationally she enjoys training horses in Dressage and showing them as well as showing her Labradors, gardening, reading, theater, art, hiking, writing, and watching movies.
FRAN SHIPLEY Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Intermediate Algebra
Born: Houston, Texas 1949
Third generation Houstonian.
Graduated Sam Houston High School 1967
Graduated East Texas Baptist College 1970 with a BS majoring in Biology and Education; minoring in English and Religious Education.
Worked for seven years as a teacher at Ryan Junior High in Houston Independent School District, during the first year of integration.
Worked at Exxon Research and Engineering for five years as an analytical chemist, specializing in synthetic fuel research.
Owned a print shop for a year in Houston, Texas. Went Broke!!
Owned a Marina in Corpus Christi for a year. Went BROKE!!
Taught school at Cullen Junior High for 7 years as eighth grade life, Earth, and honors Biology teacher. Had one year as the AP Biology teacher.
Moved back to Houston and worked at ExxonMobil as an analytical chemist, catalytic and polymer researcher. I have four patents registered through ExxonMobil.
Moved to Angel Fire in July, 2010 as a retiree.
Started teaching at Moreno Valley High School January 2011.
BETH TAFOYA Drama, American Sign Language
Theatre and American Sign Language have gone hand in hand in my life since high school, when I was cast as Sara, the deaf lead, in Children of a Lesser God. I went on to study theatre at the College of Santa Fe (now the Santa Fe University of Art and Design). After graduating with my BFA degree in both Costume and Scene Design, I went on to work in Houston , TX with the AD Players. I worked on their children’s theatre season as a costume and set designer, dresser, and in the costume shop constructing costumes. At the end of the season, I won the AD Players award for best scene design and best costume design for the children’s theatre series. Ready for a new adventure and looking for less humidity, I auditioned and was hired by Cleveland SignstageTheatre for their first touring company. This theatre brought sign language back into my life since they incorporate a bi-cultural/bi-lingual approach with deaf and hearing actors. While touring as Eyore and Kanga in, Winnie the Pooh, Cleveland Signstage also offered the opportunity to teach workshops related to American Sign Language, Deaf culture, theatre, and the arts in education. After seeing most of the continental U. S., I decided that I wanted to call the Land of Enchantment home. Upon returning to New Mexico, I worked various jobs in Taos and Santa Fe designing and building costumes and even had the opportunity to direct a collaborative film piece with deaf and hearing children. After getting married, family life dominated and teaching my own children some sign language in order to avoid temper tantrums became preeminent. I have gradually reintegrated sign language and theatre back into my life through this opportunity to teach at Moreno Valley High School.
TED WERRE Geometry, Physics, Earth Science, AP Environmental Science
Born Randall Theodore Werre, I went by Ted because of my father (Randy). I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Pensacola, Florida: surfing, skateboarding, swimming and diving. When I was thirteen I went to a camp in the Appalachian Mountains outside of Asheville North Carolina, this is where I learned how to kayak and began a lifelong love. The instructors told me the best colleges to go kayaking and so at eighteen fresh out of high school I set off for North Carolina, (for school and mostly kayaking). Once in school I found a deep love for science and the how knowledge is discovered through the scientific method. After college once again I felt it was time to move to another location, this time New Zealand! I lived for five months in a van picking grapes to be able to travel around and explore places I had never been, but this can not last forever. So once I returned stateside I began looking for jobs. One thing led to another and now I am here working at the best school in New Mexico: MVHS!
GARY YAMANE Band, Guitar, STARS Administration
Gary Yamane is a teacher, composer and performer living in Taos, New Mexico, whose interest in music spans all genres. Instruments include saxophone, flute, Native American flutes, keyboards, guitar, bass, percussion.
Originally from Oakland, California, Gary Yamane has been a student of the creative process for 48 years, ever since he picked up the saxophone at age 8. He has studied music extensively with teachers such as Rudy Tapiro, Gary Gray, John Handy, and Joe Viola. He has attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Berklee College of Music, Boston, and San Francisco State University where he graduated with a B.A. degree in Creative Arts. He has performed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as well as the east coast and southwest. His music, though structured and deeply harmonic, is highly improvisational and spontaneous in nature. When describing his music, he said, “I am really a be-bopper with large ears”. Not satisfied with the typical jazz genre, his music is as diverse as life itself and crosses many genres. “I take my inspiration from Nature and current social events”, he said when asked what inspires his compositions. His compositions reflect his interest in and the influences of world music. “Music is a language of creativity and when we are in touch with our inner selves can we express the flow of our thoughts and feelings through music. Music is speaking Truth”.
He has composed for multimedia projects by international high tech companies and local non-profit organizations. He has performed throughout the United States and has toured the Southwest playing Native American flutes for a theatre company. He currently teaches contemporary music at Moreno Valley High School (one of the few public schools in the country that has a contemporary-based music program), and performs locally.