By Jocelyn Xie and Kate Green

Orlando Beltran, Assistant Principal

By Jocelyn Xie

From being a college football player to a CNN floor manager, from being a language teacher to a middle school counselor, and finally being an assistant principal, Orlando Beltran, Lowell’s new assistant principal, has had many career changes. While he never expected to become an assistant principal, Beltran has long had a passion for education. This compelled him to fly across the Pacific Ocean to become an English teacher in Japan. In his year there, not only did Beltran encounter a clash of cultures but also a devastating tsunami. Coming home to the United States, Beltran continued his education career at two separate schools before he arrived at Lowell.

1. Could you describe your previous work experience?

I’ve been in a lot of different professions. My first job was at Domino’s Pizza. I used to work for CNN as a floor manager for the Larry King Live TV show. I also worked with a lot of celebrities, or just important people, like Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and George Clooney. I would hold the microphone for them and stand behind the camera shouting, “Five! Four! Three! Two! One!” I remembered one time, my producer told me, “Guess who is coming?” I then asked, “Who?!” “The entire cast of Full House!” I was so shocked because as a kid, I had the biggest crush on Jodie Sweetin, who played Stephanie Tanner in the show. So the day they came in, I was working on the microphones for the men. When I finished working with Uncle Jesse and other actors, my producer called me over and asked me, “Hey Orlando! Would you mic-up Jodie Sweetin?” I went up to her very nervously because she was this biggest crush I had as a little kid! The entire time when I fixed the mic for her, I was slightly shivering and couldn’t be more nervous.

After I left CNN, I moved into an entirely new field — education. I started as a seventh grade middle school teacher, but I soon decided to work abroad in Japan. When I was in Japan, I taught English as an assistant teacher at two preschools and two elementary schools. Afterwards, I came back to the U.S. and became a high school counselor for two years in San Bernardino. During the recession, I got pink-slipped and lost my job. Then San Francisco called me for an interview and I got hired as an assistant principal by Visitacion Valley Middle School. But after one school year, I moved back to Los Angeles to be close to my family. Then I decided to settle in San Francisco, and that is why I got hired by Lowell. It was a long history.

2. Could you share more about your experience of teaching in Japan?

It was very different in Japan. I lived in Kannoura, which is a very rural and isolated area where there is only one street light throughout. To go to the bigger cities like Osaka, I had to drive for about 4 to 5 hours. That experience was like suddenly moving from San Francisco to the very middle of Nebraska. The cool thing, however, was that I was living on a beach where I could go kayaking and surfing. But I was also there when the tsunami and earthquake hit Japan. Luckily, though, the place where I lived was buffered by the eastern outskirt of Chiba. It was still a horrifying memory. The time when I had to evacuate to Osaka, I was very lonely. But if I could go back again, I would stay for another year.

3. Do you still keep in contact with your students in Japan?

Some will randomly send me an email and some will say hello to me on Facebook. My colleague, Nakaya Sensei, we still talk to each other on or twice a year. During Christmas, she will send me something, like a card or picture, and I will send something to her too.

4. Why did you decide to work at Lowell?

I wanted to work at a school where I could plan activities together with the students and where I was not the only one responsible for that. Students could also be part of the process. At a middle school, you do everything. But here [at Lowell], there are more interactions between students and they are more dependable.

5. What are some major challenges of being an assistant principal?

For me, it is about building relationships. [At Visitacion Valley] I tried to talk to people, I tried to get people to know me. Once I did that, it made learning easier and enabled others to help me more with my job.

6. How do you solve conflicts between staff members here at Lowell? There are conflicts all the time. What I do is I try to talk to both people who are having the conflict. And I try to listen and understand their perspective, so we can come to a common understanding.

Michelle Cernuto, AP Principles of Computer Science teacher

By Kate Green

“I had some really inspiring teachers in high school who sent me on the right path,” AP Computer Science Principles teacher Michelle Cernuto said. “I had good guidance, so I always felt not only is it great to interact with kids, but the impact you make could be inadvertently meaningful.” Coming from a family of mechanics, musicians, artists and tinkerers, Cernuto enjoyed shop class and taking computers apart outside of school. With the support of teachers who saw her potential skills and abilities, Cernuto went to college and proceeded to work in many fields relating to technology. After some time as a graphic designer, college-level teacher and Instructional Technology Director at California College of the Arts, she became a computer science project director for SFUSD where she helped bring computer science to elementary and middle schools, and helped expand the offerings in high schools.

1. What are some challenges and rewards of being a teacher?

In some eras, federal government administrations seek to cut funding for public education. We are in one of those eras, unfortunately. I am involved in social justice work, and partner with the American Federation of Teachers (the federation of teachers unions, that represents all teachers at the national level) and the CFT (CA Federation of Teachers) to promote a student-centric, well-funded educational system at both the state and national level. The SFUSD understands the impact that technology and computer science literacy has on future generations, and part of my work as an educator is to protect the funding of the public education system and to raise awareness of the importance of future readiness skills like the ones taught in computer science.

Rewards are just being in the classroom every day and [working with] the students. I love the subject matter because it’s very creative and very fun. I want to help students understand that it’s actually interesting, because I think computer science sounds boring to a lot of people. But actually, once you demystify it, you start to go, “Oh, I can totally do this!” In fact, if you are curious about computer science but think it’s boring or “not for me” you’re invited to stop by “Host Club” on Thursdays from 3:45 to 5 p.m. in room 334 to talk to me in person about [computer science] and to learn why it’s fun and a good 21st century skill for all students.

2. What is your first impression of Lowell compared to other schools you have worked at?

Lowell is pretty amazing. The students are really engaged, the teachers are incredibly supportive, and the administration is awesome. I feel the city is lucky to have Lowell. I see Lowell as a rigorous, opportunity-laden school, one that I would have enjoyed when I was a high school student.

3. What is one of your goals as a teacher here?

One of the things I want to see happen as I become a member of the [Lowell] community is to see more female students and students of color become interested in computer science. Computer Science is not just coding, so I try to show how it impacts everything we do in this “Age of the Internet.” Over the course of the two years that I did research as an SFUSD CS project director, we learned that the female student population as well students of color who choose to take CS are lower in our high school classes than in the general school populations. We want to encourage these under-represented students to take CS. Even if they don’t end up being a programmer or a computer scientist, they should understand a little bit of CS because it will impact pretty much every job. I’m hoping that going forward we can encourage that and make it feel supportive not intimidating. This is an inclusive world and they are welcome to join it.

4. When you’re not teaching, what are some of your favorite hobbies?

I play music. Right now I’m playing drums and guitar in a band, and I used to play bass in many bands in the ’90s. I did a lot of touring and recording, so I still do that as much as time permits. I also have a daughter and a couple dogs and we like to go camping with our friends.

Esther Hollander, orchestra and AP Music Theory teacher

By Kate Green

On her sixth birthday, Orchestra and AP Music Theory teacher Esther Hollander received the gift of her first piano lessons. Ever since, her love for music has grown, encompassing playing violin and oboe, conducting and singing in choirs. In school, she enjoyed science class and considered pursuing a medical career, but, in the end, decided teaching music was her true passion. “Having the opportunity to share my love of music with someone else in a way they can gain confidence in themselves is really exciting to me,” Hollander said. She has spent the past 17 years teaching band, orchestra and general music to elementary and middle school students, as well as university-level music theory; this year marks her first experience teaching high schoolers. She looks forward to this change, fondly remembering how high school was a period of opportunity for her as a young musician, with performances at all-state music festivals in Arizona and Virginia.

1. What are some challenges and rewards of your career as a whole?

Rewards are when a group of musicians really start to work together and realize when it’s time to listen and time to be a soloist, and support and encourage each other. So that’s always rewarding. Challenging is I guess, just figuring out the balance. Everybody’s always so busy and I want to inspire my students to be their best, but I don’t want to push them into a place where they’re stressed out. So finding that balance is challenging.

2. What is your first impression of Lowell compared to other schools you have worked at?

Well, compared to middle school everyone is so grown up, and responsible, and mature. I think it’s great that my block five class, which is AP music theory, is able to handle eating lunch, taking notes and learning all at the same time.

3. What inspires you?

Flowers, music, nature, the beach, the ocean. Any kind of music. When I was younger, I did not like J.S. Bach, I thought [his music] was very boring. And as I’ve learned more about music I’ve come to appreciate the intricacies and the counterpoint he writes, so I’m very inspired by his music. I like Klezmer music too, so a totally different path.

4. Do you have funny stories that stand out to you?

The first time I scheduled a field trip, my school program reserved a bus and bus driver to transport our student musicians to their performance venue. As a young teacher, I assumed that the bus driver would know exactly where to go and never thought to look for directions. We all got on the bus and the bus driver looked at me and asked which route I would like us to take. Being new to the area, I had no idea! (This was before GPS was readily available.) After a moment of panic, one of the parents ran to her car to get a map and we figured out how to get there eventually. I’ve always made a point to look up directions, parking information and loading zones since then!

Sara Bianchi-Chamberlin, Spanish and Italian teacher

By Kate Green

“I always try to tell students the opportunities with languages are huge,” Spanish and Italian teacher Sara Bianchi-Chamberlin said. Growing up in Italy, Bianchi-Chamberlin always had an affinity for languages. She attended a secondary school emphasizing the study of foreign languages called a liceo linguistico and continued her linguistic studies at the University of Milan in Italy. By the time she entered the international relations workforce, she was a full-fledged polyglot, having added English, French, Latin, German and Spanish to her linguistic arsenal. Upon moving to the United States, Bianchi-Chamberlin immediately knew teaching was a career she wanted to pursue. Dabbling with teaching all grade levels spanning preschool to college, she began at a high school in Napa five years ago and has been working with teenagers ever since. Today, she enjoys playing tennis and volleyball, and hopes to find more time for pleasure reading outside of work.

1. What are some challenges and rewards of being a teacher?

I’m an optimist so let’s start with rewards. The rewards are the social part of it and the fact that we [the students and I] are working as a team to get you at the end of the year to listen, speaking and talking. So the best part for me, is challenging my students to tell me when [they] start dreaming in Italian or Spanish. I’m enjoying teaching lower levels to see them breaking the ice with something that is totally, “Oh my god, what is going on?” so I think that is the best reward.

I think the most challenging thing for me is that I smile too much, I need to be stricter. Challenges are really balancing in general, like how can I balance how I communicate? I’m angry but I don’t want to be angry at that time, or I am too enthusiastic about something I want to show them at some time. Part of the challenge is to really create a good atmosphere in the class where [the students] know they have to work but also respect you at the same time.

2. What is your first impression of Lowell compared to other schools you’ve worked at in the past?

I have worked at and observed other schools, and I have to say the school culture here is wonderful. It’s very different and I’m still learning, but so far I’ve found the students are very motivated, mature and well-behaved. I see more humility in Lowell and a willingness to learn and succeed. Also, as a teacher, I don’t feel like I always have to discipline strongly like in other schools.

3. What inspires you?

Everything, but mostly people. How they handle their lives and their characters, because everybody has a story to tell. When I was younger, I wanted to be a reporter because I liked to write. And as a reporter, I think the best part was getting to know people and dig into their stories. You grow quite a bit when you get to know other people’s experiences and share with them.

4. What is one thing you loved about your high school experience?

I was really lucky because I went to a school similar to Lowell. It was a Catholic school with very strict nuns, but they taught me how to study and didn’t allow any excuses. The thing that I loved was that my best friends are still my high school friends. This is because in Italy for five years we always have the same class but with different teachers, so you really build a classroom relationship and become like brothers and sisters. I still see my friends every time I go to Italy. We go out for pizza and the kids all know each other. I was lucky for that because I never felt like I didn’t have a friend. For me it was important at that time to feel I had a community.

These interviews have been edited and condensed by Zahra Rothschild and Tammie Tam.