Today's guest is Special Ed teacher and department chair Matt Katzman.

In this episode, Matt discusses how his Toyota Highlander represents his dynamic personality.  He talks about the need to be flexible and adaptable, how he's proud of many of the projects he's been able to co-plan with various teachers and about some of the strategies he uses to individualize education for students.

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This week's guest is World Language and Student Council facilitator Keila Castorena.

Hear Keila talk about how she prioritizes making connections with students and providing them with a caring heart.  She discusses her origins in El Paso, Texas and how color guard eventually led her to a profession that never bores her - teaching!  She also talks about some terrific engagement strategies and what she's learned in the remote setting works best for students to provide consistency and let them know she cares.

Check out the SPECIAL EDITION of Who’s Behind the Bulldogs - it’s FULL of great advice to support ELL students in the remote setting from our wonderful ELL team!

This week’s guest is Sara Milius. Sara is a Special Education teacher.  This year, Sara is co-teaching sections of Geographic Studies, Physical Science, Algebra I and Geometry.

In our conversation, Sara talks about her time in Minnesota and what led her to become a Special Education teacher.  She also discusses projects she has used in the past, including a Civics projects she has previously used, and what she’s looking forward to this year.  She also talks about her views on equity in education and provides advice for other educators.

Thank you for tuning in to this week’s episode of “Who’s Behind the Bulldog.”

Today’s guest on Who’s Behind the Bulldog is Joel Carda.  Joel is one of our ESL teachers at Arvada and this year teaches ESL English 1, ESL 1 / 2, Lit Accel 2 (Bicycle Maintenance), ESL 3 / 4 and ELL Support.

In our conversation, Joel discusses his history from working in the airlines in ground service to teaching English overseas in Japan and Thailand to becoming an ESL teacher here at Arvada.  He shares about his love for teaching the students at Arvada and why he’s so proud of the music program he has developed with his ESL students.  He describes Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) approach and how this has transformed his teaching.

Joel is an amazing educator and I hope you enjoy today’s episode of Who’s Behind the Bulldog.

Today’s Bulldog is Roger Griffin. Roger is our Dean of Culture at Arvada and also teaches a remote section of Algebra I this year.

In our conversation, Roger talks about his deep care for our students and how his belief that all students can learn shapes his approach to teaching.  He discusses many of his learnings over his time at Arvada and how he’s come to realize that we need to approach each situation differently and that the key to success is building trusting relationships with our students.  He offers up some advice to help cope with the changes with remote learning and that we need to ground ourselves in growth over perfection as we navigate these tricky times.

Thank you for tuning in to this week’s episode of Who’s Behind the Bulldog?

We’re very excited to welcome our first student interview in this week’s episode of Who’s Behind the Bulldog.  I had an opportunity to speak with Arvada High School Senior Mandy Yang.

In our conversation, Mandy talks about what she loves about Arvada and what makes learning interesting for her.  She talks about her family and Hmong culture as well as her extracurricular activities.

Today’s episode of Who’s Behind the Bulldog features Olivia Andrew.  Olivia co-teaches Geographic Studies with Rachael Powell as well as Introduction to Business.  She is also the head volleyball coach and coaches club volleyball on the side.

In our conversation, Olivia shares what led her to the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education Program at CU-Denver and how the hope of closing opportunity gaps and understanding the education system as part of this program helped shape her identity as a teacher.  She opens up about how her exposure to culturally diverse literature opened her mind as a person of color who presents as white and how that changed her identity and worldviews. She talks about her strong connections to our students and how Arvada is where she really developed her own voice as an educator.  She also shares about her learning experiences and parallels between coaching volleyball and classroom instruction, particularly in the arena of creating safe spaces and building relationships.

Today’s guest on Who’s Behind the Bulldog is Arvada’s new vocal music director, Michaela Rael.  Michaela teaches concert choir, chorale and modernaires. Beginning this week, she will also be co-teaching the GT seminar at Arvada with Joe Ventola.

In our conversation, Michaela shares about her passion for music and how she persevered through challenges in college to pursue this passion.  She discusses why Arvada stood out to her in her job search and how she prioritizes equity in music education and plans to embed student voice and choice in the program.

Michaela shares that she is excited to get to know the staff at Arvada High School so please take a moment to introduce yourself if you haven’t yet had the fortune of meeting one of our newest Bulldogs.

This week’s episode is with Shannan Corman.  This year, Shannan teaches Physical Science and Biology.

In our conversation, Shannan talks about how he’s wired to make honesty and openness his approach in connecting with students.  He talks about his excitement for his new freshmen physics classes and prepping students for the next few years of science.  Shannan also addresses how Restorative Practices has influenced his learning recently and provided opportunities to grow stronger relationships with students in the face of conflict.