Fernando Viramontes

Subject: Mathematics

Q: Was your dream always to become a teacher?

A: Yes it was. Ever since I was young, I wanted to be a teacher. I really like working with students, helping students, and it really is fun for me. I just love teaching.

Q: Is there anything interesting about yourself? Any hobbies?

A: One of my hobbies is that I play soccer. I didn’t grow up here, but I grew up in Mexico. I dont know if this is interesting or not, but I really like math, and that is why I am a math teacher right now in Woodbridge.

Q: How are you looking forward to this year?

A: I am really excited. I like math, and I like teaching, so I think that this will be a great place for me. I really like the students here, too. I think that Woodbridge is a good school with many great students, so I think that it will be fun.

Q: What was your job before you came to Woodbridge?

A: I was a student before I started working. I graduated from a University. I went to Cal State Fullerton.

Q: What is your favorite thing about Woodbridge?

A: It’s the students. I think the students are really great. They come ready to work, and they are always prepared for class. Woodbridge has some of the greatest students.

Tara Bearden

Subject: Dance/P.E.

Q: Is there anything special about yourself when you were a high school student?

A: I have danced my entire life and have competed up until I was about 20 years old. Then I went professional right after I got out of high school and have been doing it ever since, but now I just teach. Now that I’m old, I don’t dance anymore. I just teach.

Q: What was your dream as a young student?

A: It’s weird because as a student, I wanted to be a professional dancer. I have wanted to dance all my life, but as I got older I realized that I can’t dance forever. I actually majored in criminal justice to become an agent, and that is what I went to school for. A couple years ago, I realized I love teaching too much, and I just couldn’t give it up so I got my credentials and am finally here.

Q: Were you a teacher before?

A: Yes. I was a teacher in Fountain Valley High School, and I grew up near here in Huntington.

Q: It’s only been about two weeks since you started working here at Woodbridge; did you run into any obstacles on campus?

A: Well, it has definitely been hard because I have never been in this position – a teacher – before so I was just getting the program going and learning the P.E. department. Learning two different departments at once was hard.

Kathryn Sutton

Subject: English

Q: Do any of your students remind you of yourself when you were in high school?

A: Yes. I wasn’t in high school that long ago, so I remember what it is like. I can put myself in my student’s positions, especially when dances or pep rally is coming up – that was the most fun part of school for me. Those are the things that I really miss about being in high school. I can definitely see parts of myself in my students.

Q: Was your dream always to be a teacher?

A: I was never sure what I wanted to do in college, and then I had a professor at USC, who just made everything really exciting. He made college fun, and I wanted to do the same thing he did. I wanted to make learning fun, so he kind of changed the way I thought of being a teacher.

Q: Did you want to be a teacher at Woodbridge in particular?

A: Well, I really like Irvine, because I think that it is an area that is coming together really nicely, and I know that the schools in Irvine have a really good reputation so I thought that here would be a perfect place to want to work. I had never thought that I would be able to work here, but I was extremely lucky to be able to work in Irvine.

Q: What was your job before you became a teacher at Woodbridge?

A: Before I became a teacher here at Woodbridge, I was a student teacher at Northwood High School, and I was able to bounce right into Woodbridge. I took over Applied Communications last semester.