HEAD OF THE CLASS: Sunny Hills welcomes 10 new teachers in the fall of 2022

This is the last in a series of profiles on full-time instructors hired at Sunny Hills during or before the fall semester last year. A part-time English teacher last semester now works full time this spring, so expect one more profile to be posted soon. This story was updated Tuesday, March 28, with additional images and new information about the instructor and his collection of Matchbox/Hot Whe...

New Spanish teacher Luis Gomez found himself going through very distinct routines to support his wife and two sons 10 years ago. In the mornings, he sat at his desk working on assignments related to his master’s degree program in Spanish literature from the University of New Mexico.  By night, Gomez said he worked night shifts in the juvenile justice system dealing with children and youths livi...

Christina Vu sat in the back of her mother’s classroom at Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove 20 years ago as she watched her role model teach math to Advanced Placement Calculus and Algebra 1 students. It was at this moment that Vu – then a fourth-grader – said she knew she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps and pursue a career in the education field when she grew up. “It ...

On the first day of school, Summer Ng wanted to be direct with her students. Not about math or the challenges of solving word problems. But about her last name. “I know my last name is ‘Ng,’ but don’t call me ‘Miss Ng’ because it’s going to sound like I’m ‘missing,’” the new math teacher recalled telling her Geometry and Algebra Foundations 2A students at the beginning of ea...

As a Whittier High School student, Matthew Acosta often received recognition from teachers for his natural affinity for aiding his peers with their academic endeavors. Though without an official tutoring position, he found his place on campus as a resource for struggling fellow students.  Now a social science teacher for Sunny Hills, Acosta strives to attain such accolades not from his educators,...

Fifteen years ago, Chris Vogt received his first introduction to teaching several buildings away from where he finds himself now. Helping grade papers and leading history lectures 15 years ago under the guidance of current social science teacher Robert Bradburn, new Advanced Placement U.S. History [APUSH] teacher Vogt has made a full circle back to Sunny Hills. “Sunny Hills has a great acade...

Patrick Salem owes his interest in engineering to his father, who raised his family in the Midwest. “He was an electrical [design] engineer and began teaching me electrical engineering when I was 5 years old through electronics kits and early computers like the Atari 800,” Salem said. The new engineering teacher eventually graduated from Sterling Heights High School in Sterling Heights, Michigan,...

New science teacher Mason Morris likes to keep the chemistry going between him and his students. That’s why in each of his chemistry classes, he usually likes to start off with a joke or inspirational quote – whether it’s related to science or not. “I was going to tell you a joke about sodium and hydrogen but decided, NaH,” Morris recalled telling his classes during the third week of s...

Named Sunny Hills classified employee of the year for the 2017-2018 school year. Nominated for the Above and Beyond Award from the Special Education Local Plan Area in 2019. Helped guide the school’s eSports League of Legends team to two CIF titles in 2020.  Sonya Joyce accomplished these achievements when she worked here as a site technician who offered support for students, teachers and s...

The second – instead of the third – time became the charm for new Spanish teacher Cindy Ruiz. Before joining the faculty this school year, Ruiz said she applied to teach Spanish for the Fullerton Joint Union High School District [FJUHSD] in 2020 and got an interview but didn’t get an offer for a position. Then, she said she got an offer to teach at Sierra Vista Middle School in the Covin...