August 29, 2024
To Our Community, Students, Parents, and Members of the Media, On behalf of the staff of San Luis Obispo High School, we would like to express our sincere regret and shock at the details of the latest article in the San Luis Tribune detailing the experiences of one of our former students in her encounters with a former student teacher, who was dismissed. The inappropriate and repulsive behavior described has no place in our educational setting. We stand united in protecting our students from these types of
predatory behaviors and commit ourselves to creating an atmosphere of trust and safety for all of our male, female, and non-binary students that are put into our care each day. We are deeply saddened to see the erosion of this trust as these stories come to light. We want to reassure our students and their families that we are a united front in defending against this type of misconduct. We will not allow the mistakes of the past to define our school going forward. Every day we arrive on campus thinking of new ways we can engage with, challenge, inspire, support, and care for our students. We collaborate with our grade level and subject area colleagues on how to improve our practice, on who we need to be extra supportive of, and how we can make sure that every student in our care feels truly seen. Our students feel safe to share their hopes and dreams, their frustrations and challenges, and their concerns about
their peers, family members and themselves. Many of us have been in situations where we find ourselves guiding students through individual traumatic experiences, suicidal thoughts or attempts, domestic violence and abuse in the home, teen pregnancy, not to mention the regular day-to-day struggles of being a teenager in 2024 America. We have all been trained in how to properly
and professionally navigate those situations and assist students in getting the help that they need.

Our school, and our incredible staff members, bring every resource at our disposal to get that student the proper support they
deserve. Along with our countless parent volunteers, we strive to create a community of intelligence, respect, creativity, and hard work, giving our students a sense of purpose, a reason to attend school and a sense of belonging on our campus. We want to reassure our community that we will continue to earn their respect and trust despite the despicable actions of these few individuals and welcome their concerns and input when someone feels we aren’t meeting that goal. During our first week back this year, every member of our staff participated in an activity where we wrote letters to our high school selves about the reasons why we entered this profession and what we love about the job we do everyday. Our principal, Rollin Dickinson then compiled our thoughts into a
poem that he shared with us during the first days back on campus. We would like to share this poem with our community so that they can better understand what this career means to each and every one of us.

Signed,
The Staff of San Luis Obispo High School
Zach Roper       Scott Nairne     Jimmie Johnson  Kristen Nusbaum  Brian Moss   Pat Johnston    Adam Basch      Dan Monroe      Gregory Ross  Kennedy Meaney   Edelmira Rayher    Blake Bristol   Seamus Perry    Bridget Bogust    Chad Timm    Rylee Birdsall   Belen Blasquez    Steve  Crow    Eva  di Santo   Heather  Senecal   Grant East     Jamie Stapf       Meshack Burton   Shelley Benson  Trina  Casteel    Jim Haynes    Jodi Evans       John Franklin   Anna Bates   Mandi Mettler  Ryan Ritchie   Karen Speaker
Julie McAdon     Tawnee Houle   Eva Garcia-Gonzalez  Shelly Licciardi    Abby Miller       Kelsey Arata  Luke Mayberry
Steven Arata      Michael Martin    Serena Enzerink   Christine Hudson    Beth Meyer         Chris Inman Jason Heimerdinger
Lynnly Sainsbury     Julie Marks      Samantha Allensworth  Moira Milich   Terri Minetti      Kyle Fintel   Kari Smith    Johanna Farmer        Kristi  Burleson   Sharon  Jeskey     Trenton Rubio  Joseph Fantazia    Joe Sanchez        Roxy Politte    Austin Miller    Michael Norton    Laurie Decker    Kerry Ingles Birgit Lewerenz      Alicia Wright     Craig Stewart
Heather Diesta    Noelle EbenTindell      Sean Coudray Robb Wilwand     Chris Muench     Amanda Bockelman
Maggie Mora    Jenny Macartney   Cara Badger

Poem
Hey, guess what?
You’re not a marine biologist!
You are a teacher!
The thing you never wanted to be nor ever considered being.
You got snaked. Followed in the family footsteps.
You’re lucky.
This is for the ones who made the right choice.
This is for the ones who want to add value to the world
To irrigate some deserts
Step up to the telescope
The surprising detail of the moon.
It was time for me to choose a path in my life, you said.
There were plenty of good engineers and not enough good teachers, you said.
So I’m a teacher now, you said.
So high five.
This is for the teachers who are loud, energetic, and a little goofy
Who absolutely love young people
Who wake up in the morning
A leader, a trailblazer
Strong & brave & revolutionary
And think
See the good
Elevate, guide, defend
Practice, practice, practice
And love on those kids who need us the most.
This is for the ones who could care less about being cool
But sound like a buzzsaw guitar, a stand-up comedian, an audio book,
The voice of a lullaby.
We teachers are life savers, too.
Your achievements are manifest through others. Your professional journey is a
part of humility & humbleness while shrugging off the frustrations of failure.
The only job you want to come back to, to live up to, and to make new again
year after year.
Thank you for giving me purpose.
Thank you for growing souls, keeping focused,
Building–building the human spirit.
Listening and building.
Giving time and heart and then tending.
Tending to the feelings surrounding all that this amazing place is.
And when all the building up and the tending is done
having the courage and the humility to release those students and realize
it was never about you.
It’s the most powerful feeling in the entire world, you said.
The laughter, the failure, and the ability to continue to do it again.
This is for our students.
This is for our own children.
This is for the ones whose lives are chaotic and beyond control
and school is the one place where they don’t have to be on guard.
This is for the ones who still are often lonely & scared & traumatized
And say I really want to get better.
You will find you, my friend.
Stay hungry to learn, my friend.
I’m sending this message to let you know
that your difference is your strength.
Burn bright
Unplug.
Look away from the screen.
Look around at the world and recognize the good.
There is beauty.
I’m sending this message to let you know
Keep creating, keep geeking out
Survive whatever despair, craziness, and hopelessness shows up:
survive, live, outlast it.
This is for the ones who open doors.
This is for the ones who have been a teacher for a long time,
long before you were born
This is for the ones who know that school is HARD.
This is for the ones who break everything into steps and still have
⅔ of the class come and want individual help.
This is for the ones who know
What’s best for you takes a back seat to what’s good for others
This is for the generation that is yet to come.
You said it takes all you have
But what you give will always return.
The smiles
The smiles that walk through your door each day
You can hear it in my voice, see it in my smile
The smiles
The smiles, you said
The lightbulb
The switch that flips
The scale that tilts
The smiles
You love all your students as a family.
You get a chance every day to show the kids that someone is on their team.
You walk onto this special campus.
The right choice, you said.
I LOVE IT, you said.
I realized that I was supposed to stay here, you said.
Wealthier beyond measure in the joy I feel.
Wealthier beyond measure in the pride I take.
Wealthier beyond measure in the time I have.
The time.
The time.
I hope I am making you proud.
This is for whoever wrote that I’m really looking forward to this poem,
but I do wonder if you’re going to have Lynnly help you with it.
This is for whoever wrote that you are the teacher you wish you had and that
teaching has been the thing that allowed you to be most yourself.
This is for the paperwork, the meetings, the deep thinking, laughter,
tough conversations, and lasting, multiplying joy.
It isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.
Thank you.