This year Venice High welcomes over seven new staff members for the 2017-2018 school year.

Ms. Jennie Jackson in room 247 teaches AP Biology, Honors Biology and also Marine Biology. Ms. Jackson said she hopes to develop a marine biology program so that students will be able to know more about marine life and the entire science behind it. The newly hired teacher also wants to develop a strong AP Biology class so that her students will have a good chance in passing the AP exam in May.

Mr. Mark Gudani in room 244 teaches AP Literature and Honors and regular English for ninth grade. Mr. Gudani is excited to learn about the culture here at Venice and is eager to get to know his students. He hopes that they will grow in some way and improve their English skills throughout the year in his class.

Ms. Lou Angelic Campolet, in room 124 in the West Building, teaches Chemistry and Biomedical Innovation. With this being her first year at Venice, she hopes to provide good education for all her students. She also wants every student to be able to succeed in her class. Ms. Campolet looks “forward to teaching more years at Venice.”

Other newly hired teachers include Mr. Jair Paelez in room 213, Ms. Sandy Mvsor in room 240, Ms. Lisa Thorne in Room 14, Mr. Marcos Sandoval in room 120, teaching English and English Language Development and Mr. Edward O’Connell in room 135, teaching Government and English.

For Ms. Brenda Alcarez, this will be the first year of her teaching career. She is currently teaching Algebra I and II for the STEMM magnet. It was her dream to teach high school and she feels Venice High will be a good start to begin her journey.

The Foreign Language Department welcomes two new Spanish teachers. Ms. Angela Fajardo teaches levels one and three for STEMM, along with Native Speakers. She just finished her doctorate in education, and is very passionate about teaching.

“I was very lucky to have caring teachers who guided me to college,” she recalls. Now she wants to do the same for her students.

Ms. Aracely Elizondo is the other new Spanish teacher, covering levels one and two.

Ms. Angela Hughes is teaching a new elective called Event Planning, in which students learn how to grow, cook, and cater food. This is not her first time being involved with the Venice High campus. Ms. Hughes has been directing an after-school culinary club for the past two years, part of the community-outreach effort by local restaurant Gjelina.

Other teachers that are new to the school include Mr. Russell Stern teaching Government and Economics, Ms. Grace Ugbogu teaching physics, Ms. Mary Agn Camp teaching English, Ms. Melissa Cornelius teaching Special Education, and Ms. Ashley Schwartz in the Learning Center.