JUDY DUZINSKI, FACULTY MEMBER

by Kaumudi Marathé | photo by Joel Sigerson

Judy Duzinski, one of two new faculty members at our school this year, was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The daughter of a chemical engineer and a homemaker – “Ozzie and Harriet Nelson kind of parents” – she had a very settled childhood. “There was a lot of family sharing and family time, which made me realize the importance of family, especially as I became a parent.”

For her undergraduate degree, she went to Penn State, majoring in elementary and kindergarten education. Despite an interest in the arts and in writing, she had known from 7th grade what she wanted to be. “I fell in love with my teacher, Miss Brughler,” she recalls. “I just knew after experiencing her teaching that I was meant to be a teacher too.”

At university, she also met her future husband and they were married after graduation. “Then I became a tumbleweed,” she says. “Jerry had a commitment to the military that took us to Germany for 18 months, where I got to teach at the American school.” He later served in Vietnam and went on to do his MBA while she taught at Penn State. The couple moved to Kingsport, TN, where their children, Michael and Amy were born, 19 months apart. Over the next 20 years, the family lived in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California and Illinois.

“We stayed put in Northern California when the kids were in high school,” Ms. Duzinski says. Once they had gone off to college (both now live in Southern California), the couple moved to Chicago where Ms. Duzinski taught at a private school. “I was riding the crest of the wave. Wherever we moved, there was a job for me. But this time was different. This job was my choice! I visited LFCSA last spring and thought it was just great. Karin offered me the position in July and we moved out in August.”

In her characteristically positive, flexible and accommodating way, Ms. Duzinski immediately dove into the work and the community. “It feels so good, so right. The administration has a clear focus on directionality, the staff share with each other and support one another.” And though the style of instruction is different from what she has used in the past, she is enthusiastic about the results she is getting. “It’s just… WOW!” she smiles, using a word her 1st-graders have come to love and use often, especially since it is one of the first words they learned to spell this year!

Much of her 30-year teaching career has been spent in the kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms. “I really love this phase,” she admits. “I love the sound of ‘silent’ reading (wawawa wawa). I love to see the growth and development in this foundation year. It’s like watching a garden grow.”

Her sense of humor, twinkling eyes and ready smile are suited to 5-and 6-year olds still grappling with the structure of school while her pleasantly firm but kind and positive manner teaches them about patience, respect, and the need for learning.

Ms. Duzinski considers her time at LFCSA as one of her most rich and rewarding experiences as a teacher. “There is such a wonderful, genuine concern for each other and for learning, exploring and researching…just the right ingredients to help these students be successful.”

She also recognizes the potential and importance of families in her students. “It is wonderful to walk through this experience with kids who are rich in language and who bring such rich experiences, love and support from their homes. I’m here because I was invited but I hope I can stay… I’ve been in many communities, taught in public and private schools, but here it is as if I’ve found the pot of gold.”

AUDREY FANN, FACULTY MEMBER

by Bebe Johnson | photo by Joel Sigerson

When teacher Audrey Fann’s fiancé visited the campus of LFSCSA, he was peppered with questions like: “Do you love Ms. Fann?” “Why do you love her?” and “Are you sure you love her?” “The kids grilled him,” she laughs, recalling the encounter. “They were really checking him out!” Ms. Fann witnesses this spirit of inquiry everyday in her first grade classroom. The contrast with her previous stint at an LAUSD public school is palpable: “The environment is warm and welcoming, the kids are happy, and they’re really hungry to learn.”

Ms. Fann’s path to Los Feliz Arts was indirect. Before obtaining her undergraduate degree in elementary education from Grand Canyon University in Arizona, Ms. Fann was offered a job she couldn’t refuse: doing public relations for the hair care company where her mother is Vice President of Legal and Insurance Affairs. Two years of globe trotting and rubbing elbows with celebrities left her with an even bigger prize—a husband-to-be, who was a member of a rock band coiffed with her firm’s products.

After completing her studies at Grand Canyon, Ms. Fann was hired by Columbus Avenue School in Van Nuys. Three years later, while still working on her master’s degree, she was hired to write the kindergarten curriculum for LFCSA’s original charter application. She realized that the fledgling school might offer a refreshing change. “The way we were teaching didn’t allow us to be creative. What excited me was that the [LFCSA] Charter was child-centered—it valued the children for who they are and for their differences.”

A meeting with LFCSA’s Principal Karin Newlin convinced her to make the jump: “I felt like I was home, even though educationally it was nothing I’d ever heard of.” Principal Newlin recalls: “I knew she was getting her masters’ and could tell she was a natural leader-she could be a principal someday. She takes a lot on and does everything it takes to get it done. “

Ms. Fann knows she made a good decision to become one of LFCSA’s founding first grade teachers. “We get so much support—everything from the administration is positive. The parents are so actively involved. That makes a world of difference.” As to the children, she reflects, “They’re learning to work collaboratively and developing self-confidence. They’re comfortable with where they are with their learning.”

Originally from Prescott, Arizona, Ms. Fann remains close to her family. Both of her parents are trusted advisors on big decisions. In fact, when Principal Newlin made her an offer, even acknowledging the risk of unemployment if LFCSA’s Charter was not approved, both parents said, “Go for it!”

The leap of faith has paid off for her and her students. For her masters’ degree, she did a study comparing LAUSD’s Open Court reading program with LFCSA’s methodology. Through her research, and supported by her own in-class experience, Ms. Fann realized that learning goes beyond mechanics. “We’re motivating and engaging readers for lifelong learning. My kids tell me, ‘Miss Fann, I love reading!’ In 20 years they’ll remember how much they loved reading. And every single kid is reading-at their own level-but they’re all reading.”

Ms. Fann knows first-hand, that being part of a start-up school is exhausting, but exhilarating, and not without its frustrations. “When I believe in something, I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.” Her schedule is jammed: in addition to teaching, in April 2007, she received her masters’ degree with an emphasis on reading and literacy, and she is moving headlong into her June 2nd nuptials. “I take a lot of naps,” she admits. Ms. Fann also works out her creative side with extra-curricular ballet and jazz classes.

Ms. Fann has come to rely on the school community, staff, administration, UES mentors, LFCSA parents, and most of all, the children to recharge her batteries. “The parents and administration back me 100%, and the kids are amazing. I can look at them and see who’s going to be a movie producer, who’s going to write a book, who’ll invent computer software.” And Ms. Fann’s students just might someday look back and remember their first grade teacher’s words some 20 years ago telling them to “Go for it!”

TIFFANY MILLER, FACULTY MEMBER

by Kaumudi Marathé | photo by Joel Sigerson

Recently when Tiffany Miller walked into a first grade class at our school to talk to the class teacher, two first graders flung themselves on her, yelling “Miss Miller” in affectionate tones. Just an ordinary day in the life of Ms. Miller, teacher extraordinaire. Not only do her current students adore her, her kindergarten class from last year continues to regularly shower her with love and cuddles. Who could imagine that last year was her first time teaching kindergarten?

Despite that she had nine years of teaching experience from working in the Peace Corps, as a special-ed teacher, as a behavior therapy teacher for middle school kids, and as an art teacher, until 2006 Ms. Miller had never taught below the third grade level. Teaching kindergarten has given Ms. Miller an insight into what those older kids were missing. “Kids get through middle and high school with very low reading levels and very low levels of cognitive thinking. There are holes in terms of confidence, skills, or socialization. I feel like I am the front line of defense here.”

Ms. Miller grew up in California (with a short stint in New England) with a need to defend and to help wherever possible. “I get my ideals and my dreams from my parents. They were both very supportive of everything I wanted to do. Because of that I was never afraid of anything. I would come up with some crazy idea and they would say, ‘Go for it!’”

She also owes her sense of social conscience to her father, who is head of transportation for the Paharo Valley School District and her mother, who has been a school nurse and a foster parent. “Now Mom works with Doctors Without Borders and assists with surgeries in Third World countries. I grew up seeing that example. Ours was a household where for everything that you get, you give.”

She initially went to college to become an artist, but realizing she needed to earn a living, she decided to become a writer. Completing an undergraduate degree in linguistics and English literature, Ms. Miller moved to LA and worked as a writer for a research firm. “It was one of those high-powered, 60-hour-a-week type jobs.” Although she enjoyed the work, she felt she was not helping anybody. One day she realized she had had enough. “I did not know what I would do instead, but I gave it all up and started waiting tables again.” It was when she decided to try substitute teaching that she found her vocation. “The first time I was in a class room, I looked around and thought, ‘Wow, I’m home!’”

It had been a long journey. In her quest to better the world she has traveled extensively, even teaching and helping construct schools on Vanuatu, an island in the South Pacific. “We hand-built schools from the ground up, thatched roofs and all.” She also trained local teachers and helped them create ‘self-sustaining’ curriculums.

She has also helped start various charter schools here and has assisted fledgling institutions formulate their charters and curriculums before moving on to fix something else. “I just naturally taught in a Constructivist manner for many years. In the Peace Corps and in many inner city schools, you don’t have supplies, you don’t have a lot to work with. And kids aren’t interested in looking at a book. So you really have to figure out how to be animated and teach on your feet and get them really involved.”

To engage her students, she used projects. “When I met Karin and we started talking about our ideas and philosophies, I saw her eyes start to light up. She started telling me about the school they were envisioning and . . . here we are! It clicked.”

Today Ms. Miller teaches kindergarten with Ms. Pardo in a symbiotic, seamless manner. “I bring a little more teaching experience, she brings her experience and ideas with children. We teach the same curriculum but in our own ways. We are very different, even stylistically, but we are both very respectful of the differences.”

They even share one classroom with ease. “It’s like clockwork. We have been careful not to step on one another’s toes, but I don’t know that we have had to be! Although having your own classroom is ideal, we work brilliantly together, and we’re fortunate to have this large, beautiful space to be in.” In her view, next year will only be better. She is excited about our new site. “I’m looking forward to getting the children out to explore nature, to have grass to run on. It’s going to be great.”

“While I have the energy and the dedication, this is what I want to do. I was pregnant when I got hired last year, and I knew I did not want to be a working mom but a mom who works. I give 100% while I am here and when I go home I am not taking away the big issues that are happening in middle and inner city schools. I get to give 100% to my family. And my son, Elijah, is growing up sort of as the school mascot, born the same time as the school!”

Ms. Miller cherishes her role as “mom and wife,” making the most of her down time with family. “We’ve got year-passes to the Long Beach Aquarium, MOCA, the LA Zoo. We are both very spontaneous, we love the outdoors, and we love traveling. Elijah has already done some long trips with us.”

“But we also make it a point to regularly have some sort of grown-up evening to reconnect. We go out to the theater or a club or to friends’ houses. To be the best parents that we can be, and in order to be an effective teacher, you have to be happy and healthy. For that, we need to also be adults and have some autonomy.” And then before she knows it, it’s time to head back to school. And for Ms. Miller, it’ll be yet another day punctuated by a slew of hugs.

MICHELLE JONES, OFFICE MANAGER

by Kaumudi Marathé | photo by Joel Sigerson

One of the characters in Michelle Jones’ favorite book, Fall on Your Knees (by Ann-Marie Macdonald) is St. Ambrose, the patron saint of school children. So last July when Michelle read the ad for office manager at our school (located at St. Ambrose Church), her interest was piqued.

Though satisfied with her job at an entertainment law firm, she was looking to work with children. “After meeting Karin and Nancy, I walked away thinking, ‘I have to be a part of this!’” Ms. Newlin recalls, “When Michelle told us St. Ambrose had brought her here, I thought it was yet another good sign for the school.” But it was Michelle’s managerial skills that got her the job. “She is wonderful, nothing phases her, we work well together,” says Ms. Newlin. “She does the work of five people and I love that she is so put-together. She brings professionalism to our front office.” George Abrams, Board President, agrees. “Michelle’s experience as a manager and coordinator outside the education field is greatly appreciated. She applies real business practices and experiences to our context.”

As LFCSA’s office manager, Michelle is often the first person that visitors meet. Dependable, pleasant and helpful, she is unruffled by multi-tasking. The self-titled “go-to girl” tackles mundane matters like printer problems and phone calls as well as the more complex issues of school operations, staff schedules and records with equal dedication. “I feel as if I’m right in the middle of the whole thing. I deal with just about every single person you can in this school.”

But for her, the children are the best part of her job. “The kids are having a blast here. I don’t think they even realize how much they’re learning; they’re just so excited every day. When they’re sick, they come to me. When they’re in trouble, they come to me. They always come and say hi and bye. I love it.”

Dealing with kids and chaos comes naturally to the oldest of six siblings (she has four brothers and a sister). The family was raised on a ranch in Hesperia, surrounded by horses, cows, pigs and chickens. “After school, my friends and I would ride our horses through the riverbed till we saw the stars in the sky. I had an amazing childhood. We all had horses, it was always busy, not a quiet household!”

Today her household is quieter but urban life might just be busier. Michelle lives with her 12-year-old son Andre in Long Beach and the workweek consists of a challenging job, early mornings and a long commute. So how does she get through each day and maintain her characteristic calm? “I believe in lists and routines. Every day I make lists of what I need to do at home, for Andre and here at school. As I go through my day, I keep checking off things on my yellow pad! Without that, I probably wouldn’t survive.”

Weekends with lots of naps, no driving and no lists are a way to recover. Mother and son are devoted to outdoor activities like biking, roller-blading, horseback riding and tennis. Michelle also enjoys reading, traveling and shopping for clothes that remind her of dress up time as a child! Don’t we all admire her sense of style as much as her organizational skills? My daughter Keya says, “I love the way she dresses. Like a queen from her dress to her shoes.”

Perhaps this blend of whimsy, meticulousness, humor and business acumen from her ‘serious’ father and ‘free-spirited’ mother enables Michelle to handle her job with equanimity. She says proudly, “My mom is all about wearing dresses and being girly which is kind of hard to do when you’re on a ranch, building a fence. But she did it. She took care of all of us and she did it with a smile and in a dress.”

Sound familiar, everyone?

LILLIE PARDO, FACULTY MEMBER

by Kaumudi Marathé | photo by Joel Sigerson

Lillie Pardo’s experience as a mother of two informs her job as teacher of 20 energetic kindergarteners at LFCSA. The founding year of our school marked her first year as a teacher, but she started thinking about a career in education in 2000 when she began volunteering in her daughter’s kindergarten at Franklin Avenue School. The many dedicated, passionate teachers she encountered there were also a strong motivator.

Ms. Pardo was born and raised in Kansas City by Filipino parents, both doctors, who put a premium on learning. She studied journalism and Spanish at the University of Kansas in Lawrence before moving to Los Angeles in 1990. Her varied jobs: writing and editing, human resources, a stint at the Getty Conservation Institute, and a longer one as a stay-at-home mom to Olivia (12) and Mia (9), all taught important skills that she utilizes today. “As a teacher I get to use everything I learned before, my interpersonal skills, writing, communication and language.” She feels her interest in the arts is also “perfect” for our school. “I really value the arts as another way of learning, of accessing the curriculum. It is a form of enrichment that kids can connect to… It is exciting to teach at a school that values it.”

Ms. Pardo got her teaching credentials at Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena, a school that emphasizes human development and early childhood learning. It was a collaborative environment, “similar to this school,” she explains. “Here Ms. Miller and I collaborate on lesson plans, discuss what works and what doesn’t … even across grade levels, there is a lot of communication between the staff. We’re all on the same page with our and the school’s philosophy of education. It is energizing—and a new school needs that. It builds the community, makes it a stronger learning environment where everybody can feel they are welcome.”

“What more could we ask for?” says Maya Ivanir whose daughter, Daniella, was in Ms. Pardo’s class last year. “Kindergarten is all about the ‘first time experience’ and we were lucky to have Ms. Pardo for our kids that very first time. Kindergarten is less about learning things and more about learning to love learning. In her very quiet and graceful way, Ms. Pardo managed to teach both. There was no pressure to achieve, it just happened naturally.”

According to Ms. Pardo, it is important to keep a balanced and healthy perspective on education. “Apart from academics, you want kids who can really think critically and who see themselves as learners… I have high expectations for myself, and if you model that for children they will rise to the challenge.” She believes teachers need to show children that they are “life-long learners, that we’re in this together.” Assistant Principal Nancy Martorelli says, “We are fortunate to have a caring and conscientious teacher like Ms. Pardo. She devotes her time, including a great deal of personal time, to planning lessons and creating a classroom environment that engages each student and provides a nurturing learning community.”

Although Ms. Pardo takes work home, she ensures that there is some down time for herself and her family. Her husband shares her interest in art and drama so they make time for museums and theater. She bakes and often brings goodies to school for staff meetings. She also knits and quilts. Over the summer, she found the time to complete several quilts. Most importantly, she spends time with her daughters. And her experience as a teacher enriches her work as a mother. “What I learn about how kids learn, about human development, I apply to my own kids!” she explains. As her student Daniella puts it, “Ms. Pardo loves kids and she loves teaching kids.”