This year, SCHS has welcomed many new staff members to the campus. In the accompanying q & a’s, we take a look at their high school experiences and learn a little bit more about them. Below is a Q&A with Luis Calonje, the support and assessment technician for English Learners

Q:  What did you want to be growing up?

A: I wanted to be a chef. I cooked at home back then, and still do now. During high school, I was in the culinary arts program, and my most memorable experience would have to be the days we would cook for our teachers. We would run a restaurant with different types of foods, and the teachers would have to order what they wanted from the menu. We would prepare it for them and serve it to them at lunch time.

Q: What high school did you go to?

A: I attended Wilcox High School, actually. While I was a student at Wilcox, I would always think of Santa Clara High as our rival school. At the time, I didn’t think I would ever be working here at Santa Clara High.

Q: What were you involved in at Wilcox?

A: I was involved in the Culinary Arts program, and the Latino Student Union. I had my hands full with going to school 1st – 7th period and taking on the role of a club president with all of the responsibilities that came with that.

Q: What advice would you give to your high school self?

A: Never give up, and push yourself. People tend to start wandering in high school. When I started working in education, I always thought of the day coming that I would work at a high school, and how hard I would have to work to get there.

Q: What’s your most memorable high school experience?

A: I was the president of the Latino Student Union for two straight years. My first year was challenging because I was new to it, and I didn’t really know what I had gotten myself into. But after a couple club meetings, I was much more comfortable with being president. I had to undertake a lot of responsibilities. There were definitely times where I wanted to give up, but I knew that by giving up, I would be giving up on a lot of other students. I didn’t want to do that.  

Q: What’s your favorite book and why?

A: “The Christmas Gift”, by Francisco Jimenez. The whole story makes me just think of my family and how special it is to spend the holidays with them.

Q: What’s your guilty pleasure?

A: I snack a lot. My usual snacks are either Cheez-Its or Fruit Snacks. I snack on them at random times during the day, especially when I am really focused on what I am working on. My coworkers always make fun of me because it will be quiet in our office, and then all of a sudden I make a bunch of noise as I open the Cheez-It bag or the fruit snacks bag.

Q: What’s your most memorable teaching experience?

A: My most memorable teaching experience was from last year, when I was able to reclassify 22 students from English Learners to English Proficient. The great sense of satisfaction definitely felt nice.