Teaching Fellow Lists Top Mentors at Gilroy High

When Carissa Filice , she said that it was the many gifted teachers in her past that inspired her to enter the field.

Filice, who is now working on her teaching credential in the Stanford Teacher Education Program, grew up in Gilroy and graduated from Gilroy Patch asked: “Who inspired you back then?”

• Eric Kuwada: I had a lot of great teachers at Gilroy High. In science specifically, it was Eric Kuwada. Over two years (Environmental Science and Physics) he changed my view (fear, really) of science, and made me feel as if it was something I could do and enjoy and appreciate, not just a series of facts to be recalled on a test.

There were many more that Filice said she remembered by last name–the same way she referred to them as a young student:

• Mrs. Silva (Math)

• Mr. Gray (English)

• Ms. Rivera (English)

• Ms. Huerta (English, advising)

• Ms. Hartman (English)

• Mrs. Kelly (middle school Math)

Filice said:

I did not realize and appreciate what they were doing at the time, or understand how it was so different from classes that did not inspire me. But now that I am looking at the classroom with a new perspective, I am trying to figure out how I can motivate students to learn some fascinating things about their world. I want to help engage all students. I am grateful to the teachers at Gilroy High who helped show me how to be more appreciative of learning, as well as the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation.