Starting the Year With Sunada

After Associate Principal Michael Wanmer left Peninsula High School at the end of last school year, Christina Sunada was hired by the Palos Verdes Peninsula School District (PVPUSD) as the new Associate Principal. She was originally assigned to manage attendance, discipline, athletics and facilities for Peninsula, but with the district-wide switch to online school, there has been confusion over what Sunada’s role at Peninsula would ultimately be and where she would be needed most. Within two weeks of being hired as Associate Principal, Sunada was asked to take on the role of Distance Learning Academy (DLA) principal. This role placed her in charge of the fully online program that PVPUSD is offering alongside the hybrid model for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Sunada was then asked to be the DLA coordinator for only middle school instead, which would have required her to organize and execute the plan for the students who had chosen to learn completely online in grades six through eight. Additionally, the school district asked her to coordinate the Independent Study Program for students in Last year, when Athletic Director Wendell Yoshida chose to retire, former Calculus teacher and varsity girls and boys golf coach Glenn Van Enk was hired to replace the Athletics Director position at the beginning of this school year. Van Enk has been a Peninsula staff member for 24 years, and he wanted to expand his horizons from the Education Department of Peninsula and into Athletic Administrations this year. With the upcoming athletics seasons being pushed to Jan. 2021, Van Enk has been occupied with solidifying the transition to inperson practices for sports teams. Specifically, he has been focusing on organizing the fall sports practices, such as football, so they are still prepared for the upcoming season. “Things are more [uncertain] than they have ever been, and although I wish the circumstances were different and our sports programs have had to adapt,” Van Enk said. “We are currently trying to put together protocol so that kids can hopefully start practicing soon and are hoping that [athletes] can play some games.” kindergarten through fifth grade, which is different from DLA because students must learn on their own without seeing their teachers every day. After Sunada organized registration and textbook pickup for Peninsula, the district finally decided she would return to the role she had originally been offered as Associate Principal of Peninsula. “For the last month, I have been here at Peninsula as the Associate Principal for Technology, Athletics, Facilities and Attendance,” Sunada said. “I was asked to do a lot of different things and I was excited to try them, but it is nice to know that this is my [official position] and where I will stay.” Before working at Peninsula, Sunada worked at Ridgecrest Intermediate School for two years and at Palos Verdes High School for five years as a counselor. She also had experience as the Associate Principal for PVPUSD’s high school summer program, which Sunada has been undertaking for the past four years. Although Sunada knows Peninsula and the school district very well, online school still presents challenges. “The biggest difficulty I have faced is communicating with students,” Sunada said. “Normally, I could just As a new school year starts at Peninsula, Catherine Lo Iacono is also the newest addition to the main office staff as the principal’s secretary. Recently, she has been working closely with Brent Kuykendall and attending many phone calls and meetings to discuss possibilities for the 2020-21 school year. “We have been instructing teachers and making sure that everyone, [parents, teachers and staff] included, are aware of the upcoming changes as we continue into this [school year],” Lo Iacono said. “I still do not know what a normal work day looks like, but [what keeps me motivated] is the hope that we will get to see students at school soon.” Although this year was not what she had imagined and she still does not know what the future holds, Lo Iacono is taking many measures to assist everyone involved at Peninsula to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible. A believer in the significance of a proper education as something that will grow with you forever, Lo Iacono is delighted to be a part of the Peninsula staff.

call kids out of class and talk to them [to help them with whatever they are having issues with]. Right now I am trying to email the students or chat with them on Microsoft Teams, but being off campus makes it easier for them to miss my messages and harder for me to get in touch with them.” In spite of these new obstacles, Sunada is still bringing about positive change at Peninsula. Her prior experience as a counselor and a summer school organizer proves she can help students and faculty alike. “I enjoy trying to create processes and procedures to help students as much as possible and create the most change,” Sunada said. “Moreover, my background as a counselor helps me see the bigger picture with students and how I can specifically help them. I have learned to look at not only their grades, but also their attendance and trends that I see over time so we can address any problems before they become bigger.” Sunada’s sudden transfer was surprising news to students, but many are ready to welcome her to the school. Among them, sophomore World History and United States History teacher Charles Kim is the newest staff member to Peninsula’s history department. Kim graduated from Peninsula in 2013, and when given the opportunity to return from his studies at University of California, Irvine, he gladly took the offer. After being taught by Peninsula teachers like Collette Dunn-Kottke, Don Frazier and Scotte Massey, Kim was inspired to become a teacher himself and participate in the educational experience that Peninsula has to offer and that he had. “Teaching is one of [the careers] I have always wanted to pursue,” Kim said. “When I committed to teaching and looked for job [opportunities], I realized I wanted to give back to the community that gave me so much growing up.” Now that Kim is a teacher at Peninsula, he hopes to provide the same quality of education that he experienced firsthand to his students. Kim is still getting to know his students and establish a routine, but he is delighted to call himself a panther once more.

Daniel Kim is certain of the positive changes she will bring to Peninsula. “It is disappointing that Wanmer is no longer at Peninsula,” Kim said. “However, I am excited about the addition of Sunada, and I am sure that she will help to better Peninsula as a whole.” Associate Principal Jennifer Panagos is also excited to have Sunada on Peninsula’s administrative team. Since Sunada has been employed within PVPUSD over the last few years, they have worked together before, and Panagos is confident in Sunada’s abilities. “Having been in the district before has really helped [Sunada] hit the ground running in her new role at a time when we really need someone to do just that,” Panagos said. “She knows who we are and what our goals are as a school. She is very kind and hardworking and

has done an amazing job so far.” Peninsula’s English department recently gained a new English 1 and 2 Honors teacher, Tracey Bly. As a Peninsula graduate of the class of 1989, Bly wanted to return to the district she grew up in. Previously, Bly worked at Palos Verdes High School for five years and Palos Verdes Intermediate School for one year before transferring to Peninsula. Bly knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher and believes that everyone should receive a strong education. Bly’s goal is to expand the genres that her students read to include science fiction and fantasy, not limited to the typical historical fiction novels students are often required to read; she also aims to expose students to other cultures through her curriculum. “I am meeting with every class every day, and I have a lot of communication with [the students],” Bly said. “This year particularly, I plan on knowing about the students’ lives. I think that once the [students] realize that I am on their side and want them to achieve [in class], they will [become more] inspired.”