NEW FACES AT FRIENDS: Mid-Year Edition!
We’ve added a number of new Friends to our ranks as we reopen our campus with increased distancing and safety protocols in place. Welcome to all; we’re so happy that you’re here!
Juliana Guerrero, 2nd Grade Aide
Kimberly Del Rivero, Kindergarten Aide
Explainer at the Exploratorium where he led cow eye dissections and encouraged thoughtful engagement with the museum’s exhibits. Most recently Sebastian worked with the nonprofit, Art & Film where he led student film crews in creating short films. Sebastian enjoys reading books, writing scripts, and playing overly complicated board games in his free time. Jameson McQueen, Middle School Flex Aide
Kim Del Rivero joins SFFS after a successful career in event management and hospitality for companies in Arizona and California. After managing 12,000 square feet of commercial property and three restaurants, as well as putting on events that hosted thousands of guests, Kim is more than ready to tackle assisting our Kindergarten teams at Friends! It also helps that she is well-known to many of our families, having been a popular babysitter in the SFFS community for years.
Juliana grew up in Pacifica, CA, and part-time on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Juliana currently holds a BA in English (Literature) from San Francisco State University. During school, Juliana worked at a nonprofit, the School Without Walls, where the importance of individuality and uniqueness in oneself is encouraged and reopened. When not at SFFS, Juliana can be found reading, hiking, learning new recipes, and writing. Sebastian Kleppe, 3rd Grade Aide
Sebastian graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in Philosophy, but pursued his main interest of film production through internships in New York City. Sebastian began teaching through interning at the Mission Science Workshop, helping teach science, basic electronics, and woodworking to students. In 2015, Sebastian began working as an
Jameson McQueen (a member of the SFFS Class of 2011!) is thrilled to be joining the team as a Middle School Flex Aide. He is a San Francisco native, and was most recently living abroad working as a translator and teacher aide in Florianopolis, Brazil. When he’s not working, Jameson is usually at the beach (if the weather permits) or going on hikes throughout San Francisco with friends. Jameson is looking forward to reconnecting with the Friends community!
Please continue to the next page for more New Faces at SFFS...
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Angel Nicole, 4th Grade Aide
Liz Peterson, 1st Grade Aide & Library Assistant
course facilitator, wilderness trip leader, and outdoor educator. Bekah is a lover of poetry and dogs, likes to garden with neighbors and friends, and enjoys riding her bike to the ocean. She is currently a graduate student of literature at San Francisco State University. Carlota Roa, Lower School Spanish Teacher
Angel is a San Francisco native, born and raised. She graduated from Thurgood Marshall High School with honors in 2012. Angel has always loved to dance, and practically lived in the dance studio after her mom signed her up for dance classes at the age of six. Angel later joined her neighborhood Pop Warner cheer/ dance team, the San Francisco Brown Bombers, and soon began volunteering as an assistant coach for her childhood cheer/dance team, which she has been coaching ever since. Angel has helped lead the team to four National Championships in Orlando,FL. Giving back to her community by passing down her knowledge and mentoring youth helped Angel realize her passion was working with kids, so she decided to apply for a job at SFFS. Angel joined the Extended Day team in October of 2017 and has enjoyed every moment. She is now seeking to go back to school to get her degree in Childhood Development and Child Adolescence. In her spare time Angel enjoys cooking, traveling, attending her home teams sporting events ( #GIANTS, #WARRIORS, #49ERS ) taking advanced dance classes with her cousin (a former NFL 49er cheerleader), watching movies, volunteering in her community, Playing Double Dutch with the students at SFFS, DIY projects, and hanging out with her SFFS co-workers.
NEW FACES
Liz Peterson was born in New Jersey and lived in Pennsylvania before moving to San Francisco as an adult. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute and has a BFA in painting and photography. While living in Pennsylvania, she was a part of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s(PYM) youth, volunteer, and travel programs, and attended Quaker Meeting regularly. She has been working at SFFS for a few years in the ED program, teaching Enrichment classes, and substitute teaching. She is really looking forward to joining the staff here at SFFS! She likes to play music with her friends, by herself, and DJ for community radio outside of school. Bekah Puddington, 4th Grade Teaching Assistant
Bekah grew up in Northern New York (practically Canada) in the Western foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, as a Social Studies teacher’s daughter and the oldest of 5 kids. She moved to San Francisco in August 2018 for Mennonite Voluntary Service, and worked at The Gubbio Project for one year. Bekah has her B.A. in English, and has previously worked as a school librarian, challenge
Carlota Roa is a Spanish professor with more than 30 years of experience, having graduated from La Universidad de Ciudad de Mexico with a BA in Education. Upon graduation she became the assistant principal for a prestigious bilingual private elementary school in Mexico City. Carlota later relocated to Los Gatos and began her tenure at the Campbell Union School District, before joining a K-8 charter school, where she was in charge of creating and developing a complete Spanish program for the entire school. Having successfully implemented a robust Spanish curriculum, Carlota then joined Hillbrook School as an elementary Spanish teacher in 2008. In addition to teaching, Carlota is founder of a private tutoring enterprise, Spanish Today. Carlota has collaborated with the Los Gatos-Saratoga Recreation Center in developing after-school Spanish programs, and also offers Spanish summer camps at the Montalvo Arts Center. A seasoned traveller, Carlota has visited Mexico, Europe, and various Central and South American countries, always paying close attention to the population’s culture and customs. The lessons Carlota learns from traveling she implements in the class in order to curate a Spanish program with international insights.
Allie Thornberry, Health Coordinator
Allie joins SFFS in the newly created role of health coordinator, after working as an EMT with previous experience on a 911 ambulance, and also a children’s swim coach and teacher. Allie recently finished Paramedic School at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, and she is originally from San Jose. In her off time, Allie owns and operates a bakery delivery service, specializing in creme brulee. She also enjoys yoga and watching movies.
Maddie Vilhauer, Horizons Development & Communications Coordinator
Maddie was born and raised in San Francisco, California. After traveling to León, Nicaragua in high school with a leadership development program called Global Glimpse, Maddie was inspired to study the themes of globalization, development, and international relations at the George Washington University. There she received a B.A. in Latin
American and Hemispheric Studies and became passionate about sustainable international development through causes that exemplify responsibility when tackling regional challenges. Maddie has always been passionate about addressing inequity in education and working with Spanish-speaking communities. After Maddie’s fellowship in vetting and grants management at GlobalGiving, she came full circle to join the Development Team at Global Glimpse. Maddie is honored to bring her development and communications skills to the Horizons team in service of providing outstanding summer learning opportunities for students in her hometown.
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