# data[].attributes.body
1. Laura Harris (my friends call me Laurie)
2. College Success Studies at Cuesta; I am an English major teaching all levels of composition and critical thinking/argument and ESL elsewhere.
3. I am a musician (piano, guitar, ukulele) and singer; fun fact: I am a silver medalist in ping pong; it's hard for players to beat me--I'm that good! I love animals, have two dogs who are my best friends, play any kinds of games--board, cards--you name it, I'll play it.  It's so much fun to laugh and play, isn't it?
4. I identify as American because I have such varied heritage in my DNA: Welsh, Irish, and German immigrants are my ancestors from the 1700s, but I am also a I am a legal, voting member of the Choctaw Nation (1/3 according to DNA testing and Dawes Rolls degree of Indian blood); my great-grandmother was on the Trail of Tears, walking from Mississippi to the Oklahoma Territory. My grandmother (her daughter) was also a full Choctaw. I come from dust bowl immigrants in Oklahoma (mother) and Texas (father); both sides of my family called themselves "poor dirt farmers." One of my favorite professors called me a "citizen of the world" because I am a helper, friendly, and giving. I love to cook, walk in nature or anywhere outside, play with my dogs, knit, quilt, crochet, play music, and write, write, write.  I am also a poet. My favorite book is the Bible that I have been reading all of my life. I have many translations and read one each year. The very best part of me is being a wife, mother, sister, aunt, friend, and cousin; my family is so multi-cultural and diverse that our feasts and gathering are a smorgasborg of the world. Yum!

# data[].attributes.headline
It is good to be here and looking forward to this very important ongoing work. 

# data[].attributes.subject
It is good to be here and looking forward to this very important ongoing work. 

# data[].attributes.body
1. Idona Cabrinha (🤬. e-DOH-na) she/her/hers

2. I teach Class Piano (Elementary and Intermediate), Music Appreciation: World Music and Rock n Roll, Music Fundamentals.

3. Fun fact - my friend and I recently completed our own 'exclusive' first time ever marathon. It was a very humbling experience. The Ave of Giants marathon was cancelled and postponed twice (Weott, CA) so we committed to a date of our own. I'm still tired (nah, not completely - I'm back to training) I love to cook and bake, play tennis, being outdoors, and miss traveling!

4. I am Filipino-American, the 3rd oldest first cousin of 19 on my mom's side and 5th oldest of 28 first cousins on my dad's side (my parents come from large families). I have 1 brother and a niece and nephew.  And to my first cousins - I have at 13 nieces and 9 nephews on my mom's side and (way more...) on my dad's side. It's hard to keep track but we are all very close. I am mother, wife to 2 children(19 and 15),  friend, cisgender woman, musician, pianist, vocalist, artist, life long learner and humbled to be a part of this esteemed group. I look forward to the opportunities ahead and doing the work to "take concrete actions to change issues of power, privilege and oppression not only in education but in our larger society. " - Dorinda J. Carter Andrews

# data[].attributes.body
1) Guillermo Alvarez (he/his/him)
2) Math and Stats
3) I enjoy arts and outdoor activities. I also like professional development. I like action movies because they inspire me to be an action man!
4) I am a cisgender man, heterosexual, professor and a free spirit.

# data[].attributes.body
1.  Jen Sanders-Moreno (she/her/hers)
2.  Math (and statistics)
3.  I've lived on the Central Coast since 1994 when I transferred to Poly.  I met my husband in college where we both studied math.  We have lived in Santa Margarita for 18 years with our two kids (one who is Autistic).  I've been lucky to be a part of the math department at Cuesta for 20 years.  I like to do puzzles, bake, and garden.
4.  I am a mother, wife, friend, and educator.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Rachel Pass (she/her)
2. College Success Studies
3. I am from Portland, Oregon, and lived most of my life in the Pacific Northwest before moving to the Central Coast in 2013. I love hiking, biking, and exploring with my husband, our two kids, and our dog. When I have some time to myself indoors, I am often reading, learning to play my banjolin, or doing fiber arts. I also work in communications and outreach at the Morro Bay National Estuary Program.
4. I am a white, cisgender female. I am an adoptive mother and former foster parent. I am a reader and writer who believes that words matter very much. I am a teacher who believes that helping students hone and amplify their voices can be a step toward social justice. I am always learning and listening.
5. I am also camera shy, but here's the one recent photo I could find of me with my family.

# data[].attributes.body
1) I'm Michelle Garner, she/her/hers

2) I teach Early Childhood Education (ECE) courses; specifically, I teach the courses about inclusion of children with special needs in the ECE setting.

3)  Fun fact: I can wiggle my ears.  I am a bit weird and enjoy exercise; lately I am into lifting weights and riding my Peleton.  Those things have saved my sanity during the pandemic. I am a bit of an old soul and enjoy macrame and embroidery. Those are about the only crafts/arts I can do.  I love to garden. However, I have 8 year old twin boys, so finding any available time for those activities is challenging.

4)  I am a cisgender female. I am a fiesty Portuguese senhora; my great-grandparents emigrated here from the Azores, and my grandparents only spoke Português when they entered school in the US.  What a scary and isolating time it was for them. I've learned a lot from those stories and they greatly impacted me when I was a teacher in an area with 74% English Learner students. I am a perpetual student. I am a mom, a wife, and a teacher.  I am an empath who wears her heart on her sleeve.  I laugh easily and love deeply.

# data[].attributes.body
Michele Gordon Johnson (Canvas and emails - Pamela). I'm an Early Childhood Education Instructor and have been teaching at Cuesta for 24 years. I LOVE to run and mostly on trails. My husband and I road trip every summer, five blissfull weeks away in our van, running on trails in Idaho, Colorado, and Montana. Pure joy. In addition to being a runner, I am a mother of two grown boys (two stops on our summer road trip), a wife, a woman/cisgender (she/her), heterosexual, white, dog and cat owner, sister, and running friend to three awesome women.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Jeff Nachtigal (He/Him/His)
2) Journalism and Digital Communication, all DE since 2016. I teach multimedia journalism. I currently live in my home town in Seattle, WA; I lived, studied and worked in Berkeley and Bakersfield for 10 years, and I love everything about California except wildfires and bad air. I drink a lot of coffee, too.
3) I spend as much time outside as possible: hiking, biking, snowshoeing, gardening, dog-walking, coaching my kids' teams (baseball, this time of year) and sitting in the sun with a good read on hand...
4) I am a white cisgender male. I am a husband and father of 2 sons (10 and 12).  I strive to explain, to make change for the better, and educate.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Michelle Turk Kaul
2) Math/Physics/Astronomy (Mainly at Cuesta since  2006)
3) All around curious explorer of many things, gypsy-wanderer, educator, permanent student, and easily distracted/fascinated by just about everything.  I love collecting eclectic science toys (and sharing them with the neighborhood kids)  and have a weakness for classic science-fiction (some campy sorts).  I really love good coffee, trees/plants/native gardening (with no supplementary water), the stars/cosmos, beaches of the world, exotic/strange places, animals/birds, different forms of art, and most importantly - people - I just love meeting different people and hearing their stories.   My recent adventure is learning to surf in my late 40's with my boys and getting as many other kids out to try it out with us - it has been our COVID therapy.
4)  I am a white heterosexual female.  I am also a mother of two young energetic boys, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a good friend to many, and a stranger to no one.  As a child of immigrant parents from the former Yugoslavia (who did not have any high school education), I became  aware of the challenges of being isolated culturally early on and how important equity is to prosperity in our society.  Also, since I was living on my own and working my way through school since I was 17, I find myself to be extremely lucky to have lived with and learned from so many different room mates (oh so many) /people over the years.  It has been a journey of moves and growth from my Canadian birthplace, through the south, to New Mexico, and for now, here on the Central Coast.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Britney Ogden (she/her/hers)
2) I teach in Early Childhood Education (ECE)
3) I have a fur baby named Humphrey. He's a basset hound mix and is very stumpy and chunky.
4) I am cisgender, a spouse, a dog owner, low-income, and a person with mental illness.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Alicia Paniagua (she, her/ella)
2) NonCredit Adult Basic Education - GED en Español
3) I'm from the beautiful Central Coast. I enjoy spending time with my familia and helping out at my family's strawberry farm. I love traveling and singing mariachi music.
4) I am my mother's daughter.  I am Mexican-American. I am a first generation college graduate. I am a GUERRERA. I am a woman who is determined to grow and be better for herself, for her family, and for her community. I am a mujer I am PROUD of. I am a mariposa getting used to having wings. I am someone I LOVE.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Cynthia Wilshusen (She/Her)
2) Accounting
3) My husband and I have raised our 4 children ages 21, 19, 16 and 12 on our small farm in the North County. We raise our own eggs, beef, swine and fresh herbs and vegetables. Our kids keep us very busy with sports and 4H but we love every moment of it. More recently, in addition to living our farm life, we enjoy hiking around SLO county and seeing the beautiful place we call home. My husband is a 4th generation from Paso and it is amazing that he had not explored these places before now.
4) I am a white heterosexual female. I am a passionate and caring sister,  mother, wife and friend. I am sensitive and overly critical about myself. I am a hard worker and I love what I do.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Mechelle Medhurst (she/her)
2. Kinesiology/Health Sciences/Activity classes
3. Last year my BF and I got engaged and moved to a 2 acre home in Santa Margarita. We use to live in Cayucos and have traded in our surfboards, flip flops and warm hoodies for a tractor, work boots and sunscreen! I use one of our bedrooms for a "cat room". Meaning I foster kittens/cats and can have as many as 8 at any given time.
4. I am a white heterosexual cisgender female. I am a crazy cat lady, a good friend, a sister and mother, girlfriend,  sun worshipper, wine-o, an educator and an all around bad-🤬

# data[].attributes.body
1) Carlye Peterson (she/her)
2) Earth Science courses such as Oceanography, Intro to Environmental Sciences, California Geology. I also teach remotely at Cal State Long Beach.
3) For fun I garden, cook, make textile art and garments, walk/hike with my two dogs.
4) I am a white-passing cis-woman with lots of tattoos, and one younger brother (who went to Cuesta years and years ago). I have lived all over California and briefly in Washington state while teaching at Lewis and Clark College, but I love the oak hills of Chumash land of the Central Coast the most. I am a climate scientist, I am an expert on the global carbon cycle, I use statistics to better understand the signals embedded in climate proxy records, I am a science communicator, I am an educator, and I am a life-long learner. I have a Ph.D. and Certificate in College and University Teaching from UCSB, and the photo below is an old one from when I belonged to a wine club in Santa Barbara. I'm holding my oldest dog, Xochitl (so-chee), who turned 11 years old a week ago!

# data[].attributes.body
1.  Eric Novitsky (he/him/his)
2.  Introductory Chemistry
3.  I enjoy hiking, meditation, and hanging out with my wife, Andi and dog, Basil.
4.  I am a white cisgender male, I am a husband, and I am an educator.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Monica Contreras (she, her/ella)
2) College Success Studies, Major & Career Exploration
3) I'm from Lakewood (next to the LBC).  I enjoy traveling and am always the tourist even in my own "backyard".  I like to go wine tasting, taking care of my house plants, and crafting.
4) I am a Latina, cisgender woman.  I'm a sister, daughter,  grand-daughter, aunt, friend, fiancé, counselor, and educator.  I'm a plant mom.

# data[].attributes.headline
May the JEDI Force Be With You! (I had to).  

# data[].attributes.subject
May the JEDI Force Be With You! (I had to).  

# data[].attributes.body
1) I'm Brian Locher "Low-ker" (he, him).
2) Kinesiology / Athletics
3) I'm an avid runner coming to grips my pedestrianism as I age (I once competed in college).  My other hobbies include international travel  with my lovely wife (well... we used to!) and wilderness backpacking with whomever I can talk into going with me.  Actually, my job is my hobby as well.  I absolutely love coaching track and field.
3) I am a white cisgender male. I am a husband and Yorkie (dogs) father. I am a friend, a son, and educator.

# data[].attributes.body
I'm Colleen Harmon (she, her).
I help students discover their inner writer-self as a member of the English Division.
I still haven't perfected  sourdough bread baking--yet. But for the past few summers, I've been successfully raising and releasing Monarchs.
I'm White, which I didn't realize until I was a young adult (more on that later perhaps). I'm a cisgender woman. More on my Monarch garden and family roots if you're interested in the brief video.
Best wishes to everyone here!

# data[].attributes.body
1) Amelia Marini (she/her/hers)
2) English
3) I am an amateur potter and have a home studio (now with a kiln!) set up in my garage. I also play the double bass and enjoyed playing with with the SLO chamber orchestra in the before-times. I'm a bread-baker, a writer (my most recent essay came out in a book that Bill McKibben blurbed! Life goals achieved!), a yoga practitioner, an insomniac, and I love to cook. My pandemic vice was buying cookbooks. I love my life of language but also think I could have been incredibly fulfilled as a crafts-person if I had pursued that path.
4) I am a cisgender woman, I am able-bodied, I am heterosexual, I am a wife, I am a daughter, I am white, I am an educator, I am creative.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Darby Axelrod (she/her/hers)
2) I just completed instructing the CNA course and will be teaching in the RN program this Fall.
3) I enjoy cooking, crafting, hiking and generally being outdoors with my family and dog.
4) I am a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sibling, and a friend. I am a white, heterosexual cisgender woman. I am a Christian. I am a nurse, and an educator. I am a life-long learner.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Jude Rock (I always wonder if listing pronouns is off-putting and pretentious OR  genuinely warm and inclusive?)
2. Cuesta thinks I teach English but that often seems the least of my job.
3. I live in Santa Margarita with my guinea pig, Mr. Peabody. The four most important people in my life are my two sons and their partners. As long as it is a sunny day and I can be outdoors, I am a happy camper.
4. I am blessed – and cursed – with  "satiable curtiosity" and that means I ask ever so many questions. Most of the time, I enjoy my own company. I cannot get through a day without spilling something on myself. Sometimes I have this peculiar urge to put something metal in the microwave.

# data[].attributes.body
Nancy Steinmaus She/Her

I teach in the kinesiology, health education, recreation and athletics department.  I love teaching Health Education, fitness classes (usually weight training class), and Personal Training Certification Preparation class.  I am a coach (35 years), currently coaching distance runners for SLOHS Track and Field team.  Coaching is teaching and teaching is coaching.  Practically everything I am passionate about threads into each other and into my professional life.  I have great joy since that makes my life very integrated.  From posts for this class, many (maybe all of us) have similarly integrated lives.  I have been on a life-long crusade to advocate for the oppressed and marginalized (animals and humans) that started in elementary school.  I am a mom of teens, a spouse to a man, a daughter-sister-friend-teacher-mentor-athlete-environmentalist-advocate-coach-union member-pet “owner.” My skin color is white and if I am required to state my “race,” I would use that “color.”  I always gesture air quotes around the word “race” when I use that word.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Virginia Roof (she/her/hers)
2) Early Childhood Education
3) I live in Arroyo Grande, I love reading and dancing, and I have two cats, Pearl & Hazel.
4) I am a mom of three children (13, 10, 10), a wife, and a daughter to elderly parents. I am a white, cisgender woman. I am an educator and lifelong learner.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Inga Dorosz (she, her, hers)
2. Drawing and Art Appreciation
3.  I live off the grid, surrounded by Silver Peak Wilderness in Big Sur.  I have 2 mules, 2 dogs, a lot of cats, chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys. I volunteer with LPNF to clear trails and help mule packers haul supplies in.

4.     I am an artist and educator.  I am a white, cisgender woman and an immigrant. I am a stepmom to two boys (both students at Cuesta), a wife, and a daughter (my father moved in with us after my mom died).  I am also a gardener and working on my seed library.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Michael Mogull (he/him/his)
2. Math and Statistics
3. I enjoy wine tasting, fixing things around the house, travelling, and walking on the beach.
4. I am Jewish, I am a father, I am a husband.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Beth-Ann Dumas (she/her/hers)
2. Communication Studies
3. I make wine for fun with grapes from our small vineyard along with my husband who also teaches at Cuesta (going on 40 years for him 😲; 20+ for me). We live a ways out in a canyon near Adelaida with our awesome dog Pax and our cat Mr. Milo.
4. I am an educator; I am a cisgender woman; I am a mom to 4 young adults (2 of my own and 2 stepchildren); I am a 2nd time (and very happy) wife/life partner; I am a lover of nature; I am a California native and can't imagine living anywhere else; I am a foodie and wine lover.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Melina Simonds (she/her).
2. I will be teaching in the Early Childhood Education Department this Fall.
3. Soon I'll be moving to SLO from the LA area, where I have been my whole life. I love being in nature, sketching, drawing, watercolors, and cooking. Some day I hope to write and illustrate a picture book.
4. I am bi-racial, white and Latina (my dad's heritage is Irish and Scottish, my mom is from Costa Rica and I have loved visiting my family there throughout my life). I identify as a woman, and educator, a life-long learner. I am a daughter, a sister, and a friend.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Sarah Miller (she/her/hers)
2. English
3. Fun fact: I played basketball for Cal Poly in college.
4. I am a cisgender, heterosexual woman. I am a wife and new mom—our daughter Lucy is 5 months old.  I am a dog-mom to Grover Cleveland, our German Shepherd mix. I am a poet, a traveler, a teacher, and a sports fan.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Gabriel (Gabi) Cuarenta-Gallegos (He/Him/His)
2. Math and Statistics
3. Fun fact: I have lived in four different countries: Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and U.S.
4. I am a dad, husband, brother and son. I am a cisgender, heterosexual male. I am a Latino from Mexico. I am an educator, a baker, a cyclist, a guitarist, and a sports fanatic.

# data[].attributes.body
1.  Marcia C. Harvey (she, her, hers)
2. Color theory and Printmaking.
3.  I want to host a radio show, to own a roller skating rink, to speak more languages.
4.  I am a white cisgender, female Californian of Irish and German descent.  I am part of a family that includes a husband and an adult son.  I have cats and chickens.  I grew up in a remote and rural (Carrizo Plain) area and now I live 'in town' 4 miles from Creston.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Patrick M. Len (he/him/his)
2. I've teach astronomy and physics for 18 years at Cuesta College!
3. Swing/jazz dance DJ at the Madonna Inn on Mondays (but probably not again for a long time). Published a weekly online comic strip (but also probably not again for a long time, maybe forever).
4. AAPI born and raised in Hawaii, transplanted to California, cat-dad, husband to a cat-mom, ambivert, boondocker/vanlifer/backpacker, cabinetmaker, drinker of beer.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Kelli Gottlieb (she/they)
2) General and Organic Chemistry
3) Fun Fact: When I listen to audio books, I listen at 1.75x speed.
4) I am a white hetero-passing person. I am a spouse and a dog parent. I am a gardener, cook, and a wannabe DIYer. I am a gamer. I am an introverted performer.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Elisabeth DeSwart (she/they)
2) Nutrition & Culinary Arts
3) Fun fact: I dream of visiting the countryside of Japan, and owning a house in Los Osos, CA.
4) I am a white cis/pan-gender woman/person. I am agnostic. I am dedicated to equity, inclusivity and compassion. I am whole-plant-based. I hide from the sun. I am a lover of nature, food and dogs.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Rosemary Wrenn (she/her/hers)
2) Teacher Preparation & Children's Literature
3) Fun fact: I'm also a certified yoga and Spin instructor (yes, I incorporate yoga into my college courses :)
4) I identify as a white cisgender woman. I am mom to three amazing grown children from whom I continue to learn. I love to sew, knit, and paper-craft. I am an advocate for students and a co-conspirator in matters of justice and anti-racism. I am a lifelong learner (returning to school after 30 years as a mom and teacher).

# data[].attributes.body
1) Matthew Davis (he/him/his)
2) English
3) Fun fact: I once danced in front of a live audience of 74,000 people!
4) I am a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual man. I am an educator. I am a husband and a father. I am an ally. I am a cook. I am a Californian. I am a runner. I'm a progressive.I'm an agnostic. I'm a diabetic.

# data[].attributes.body
1. Erik Veach (any pronouns)
2. Teaching Physics and Astronomy at Cuesta since 2019
3. My father was a musician and we had very little material means when I was young, but I grew up around amazing music all the time. Following in my family footsteps, I left academia to work in the professional music industry for a number of years and have recently returned and am enjoying the chance to teach science once again!
4. I am a white cisgender heterosexual male. Father of 2 daughters. Husband, married to a bi-racial woman from a family of first-generation Middle Eastern immigrants. Meals with her family are amazing!!!

# data[].attributes.body
1) Katy Dittmer (she/her/hers)
2) Psychology
3) Fun fact: I grew up in the woods and the nearest town had a population of 2 people!
4) I am a middle-aged cis-gendered straight white woman, a wife and a mother, an athlete, a painter, a cultural Episcopalian, an agnostic atheist, a European-American,  an Arkansan, and an educator.

# data[].attributes.body
1) Lara Baxley (she/her/hers)
2) Chemistry
3) Fun fact: I was the wedding officiant for both my two sisters' weddings, one in San Francisco and one in Havana, Cuba
4)  I am a wife and a mother of two adults, a daughter and a son. I am white, with ancestors from England and Germany. I'm an agnostic. I am a straight, cis-gendered female. I am dedicated to equity and social belonging.  I am blond with a purple streak in my hair.