As a new year arrives with that comes new teachers as well.  Here are the newest additions to Venice this year. 

Lorena Santos—9th grade English, Spanish Journalism, Spanish Speech

After graduating from Venice High in 2002, Lorena Santos now returns to teach at her alma mater.

The Mar Vista native always knew she wanted to be a teacher. 

“I would line up her stuffed animals and teach them,” she said.

But it was her ninth grade teacher Leona Robbins who really inspired her. She was given a thesaurus and that changed her life; it allowed her to see herself as a writer who has important things to say. She hopes to do the same for her students.

At Venice, Santos participated in the MECHA club, where she learned a lot about Chicanx/Latinx activism. She was introduced to the many struggles that people of color encounter and from there she knew how she could make a difference in the lives of young students like her. 

Santos attended UC Santa Barbara for her Bachelor’s degree and majored in Chicana and Chicano Studies to continue learning and helping create social change. 

Ms. Santos also went to UCLA for her Masters degree in education. After teaching she got two additional Certifications  in College Counselling from UCLA and the other is a 2015 Administration Credential (principal) from Cal State. 

Previously, Santos taught at Dorsey High, Markham Middle School, and Marina Del Rey Middle School.  

Ethan Krizman—Government and AP World History

Ethan Krizman lives by two mantras as a teacher. 

The first is the past creates the present and so the future; he teaches his students they can use it in the present to make a better future. The second one is learning has no deadline. 

“That’s really important during distance learning because we as a community are facing unprecedented circumstances, at least for our lifetimes,” he said.

Growing up, Krizman said that his parents were a big inspiration to him. His dad is big on history and his mom just retired after forty years of teaching kindergarten and special education. 

Then, Krizman attended Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He majored in history there, and was taught by some of the best historians in the country like David Campion, Andrew Bernstein, and Reiko Hillyer.

Those professors pushed him to be better at removing his biases and studying history as a series of patterns that play out across different civilizations, he said.  

Krizman then went to Cal Poly Pomona to get his social science teaching credential and his special education credential. 

In LAUSD, he has taught at Bret Harte Middle School, Paul Revere Middle School, and Linda Marquez High.

He is currently taking a world history and U.S. history course at East Los Angeles College, because he is always looking for ways to sharpen his knowledge of history. 

Maria Lopez Zamudio—Spanish 

 Maria Lopez Zamudio wanted to become a teacher, because she wants students to have a place where they are heard and empowered through Spanish. 

Deep down, the Culver City native has always been pushed to become a teacher, serving in tutor or mentor positions growing up. 

She pushed herself to try different career paths by working in the non-profit, political, and legal sectors. Yet, she always found herself coming back to education. 

“All the jobs I’ve ever had have always had one thing in common: being of service to others,” she said. “As a teacher, I can provide the academic support to her students’ needs and most importantly the social-emotional support.”

She obtained her AA in 2017 from Santa Monica College. She was later awarded a full-ride scholarship to transfer to Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Chicana/o – Latina/o studies and a Sociology minor. She graduated in 2019.

Her path to obtaining this degree took many twists and turns—taking classes in psychology, business, politics, and sociology.

“As a first-generation college student I was not aware of all the different majors and minors that existed,” she said.

Maria Lopez Zamudio wants to show students that the path to one’s future will not be linear. 

“You will face different obstacles and life experiences that will alter your path,” Lopez Zamudio said.

Bianca Andrews—10th grade English, Introduction to Theater, Theater Production

Telling stories, reading stories, and studying how people express their stories is exciting to Bianca Andrews. 

“That’s why I love theater, and that translates well into teaching and studying English as well,” she said.

She was born in Los Angeles but grew up in Central California where she raised animals on her mother’s farm. 

Growing up, she had teachers who made her excited to discover new concepts, and they made her realize that she wanted to continue searching, discovering, and learning throughout her life. She’s inspired by the people around her who devote themselves to the service of others. 

“Family, friends, and co-workers who go beyond the call of duty to make an impact without any thought of personal gain really make her want to push herself to be a better teacher, a better mother, and a better human,” she said.

She attended Loyola Marymount University for her B.A. in Theater, and went to California State University Northridge for her Master’s degree in Theater Arts. 

A goal she has for her students is to find ways to express themselves through their acting, their writing, or their artistry. She thinks it is really important for high school aged students to find a way of communicating their knowledge, personalities, and experiences with each other and the world. 

She hopes to inspire the same love of discovery that she has. 

Venice also welcomed other newcomers, including Veronica Cardenas-English , Amira Kerkache- World languages Arabic and french, Peta Lindsay-US History, AP US History, Ethnic Studies, Camille Morris-Developmental reading, Developmental English language support, and Richards-US Government and AP World History.