 Nenji Yilpet is the Assistant Principal at Caliber: ChangeMakers Academy. Her love and commitment to the students, families and communities is out of this world! She embodies all of our pillars- HEART,SMART, THINK, ACT on a daily basis. We are truly lucky to have Nenji at Caliber. She is someone that truly leads by example and naturally inspires and lifts others with her radiant energy!
Words about Nenji from her coworkers: "Nenji is a loving, passionate, incredible educator who supports ALL students, staff, and families. Anyone who is with Nenji feels her contagious love and passion for kids. Personally, I love Nenji and CMA is so blessed to have her. Nenji is a gem and is loved by all." "Nenji is a superstar! She is an amazing educator who is 100% dedicated to all of our students. Her commitment is a daily inspiration and she makes me want to work harder every day to create a school where students can reach their full potential. Nenji has taught me so much through thought provoking conversations and just by being who she is in our community. I am grateful to be part of Nenji's team and to learn and laugh with her everyday. " "What can I say about Ms.Yilpet!!! She is dedicated to our school and the children. Her humbleness and work ethic is what I strive to be. Nenji is an amazing leader and educator. She is on the move constantly ensuring all teachers and students are getting what they need. If I had an extensive amount of money I would buy her a Segway :) " "Nenji is an achiever in every sense of the word. I love her commitment to rigorous instruction while continuing to support our student's in their socio-emotional development. Nenji has this super special talent in which she is able to balance the delicate balance of making sure student's get what they need, teachers feel supported and families feel heard. She is able to do all of this with grace and a great sense of humor!" A recent interview with Nenji: What is your favorite thing about working at Caliber? My favorite thing about working at Caliber is the people. I absolutely love our school team and our babies and families! I learn so much on a daily basis from our kids, teachers and the rest of the leadership team. It is beautiful to work in a place that feels like family and embodies the belief that "we fall together and rise together." What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why? As child, I loved writing. Probably because I also loved talking! I was in 2nd grade and I discovered how powerful it was to use writing as a means of communication. I wrote a story for our school district in Chicago, and I won the Young Author’s Award. Definitely a highlight of my elementary years! What is your favorite memory associated with music (maybe a memorable concert, or playing an instrument yourself!)? My favorite memory associated with music is seeing The Lion King on Broadway in New York. Absolutely mind blowing! Loved every moment of it! If you could go on a dream vacation, what would you do + where would you go? My dream vacation (hoping to make it happen in the next year) would be to go to South Africa. Oh, and I would also do a lot of zip lining, hiking, snorkeling, and make sure to eat dinner on the beach, possibly even skydive. I love to travel. I grew up around the world with people from everywhere. So any chance I get, I’m always ready to experience new places. I prefer being in local communities when I travel too! What is your favorite thing about the Bay Area (or specifically Vallejo )? Again, I would have to say the people. My life has taken me to many different communities and I love getting to know the people in Vallejo, their stories and values. What is one fun fact that most people don't know about you? Something about me that some people may not know is that I identify as a black, bi-cultural woman. Some people may not know I’m bi-cultural. I was raised by a West African father from Nigeria and an African American mother from Detroit. My parents raised me equally across both heritages and I absolutely loved growing up between two worlds: growing up riding the bus to school in North Chicago as a kid and then as a teen speaking pigeon English hanging out on the streets in my city in Nigeria. My family and the communities I come from are everything to me!
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 Franky Carrasco is the Student Support Coordinator at Caliber Beta Academy. He is a compassionate, dedicated and loving role model for our kids. He is an inspiring coworker who is always willing to lend a hand whenever needed. His dedication to our kids who need him most is immeasurable. We are VERY lucky to have someone that truly embodies our HEART on a daily basis! Words about Franky from his coworkers: "What makes Franky so special is the many roles that he plays and how good he is at all of them!.. Mentor, interventionist, coach, translator, student advocate and parent partner to name just a few. It is Franky’s range and ability to hold so much at once and with such ease that makes him so unique and us so incredibly lucky to have him. He can go from helping in Kinder with all of the energy that this requires, to then sinking down into a moment with one of our middle schoolers who is going through something that very few people can understand but Franky pulls from personal experience and can support in ways that few of us can. He also challenges himself on a daily basis and as a result has grown by leaps and bounds, but above all else he is the most amazing role model. The father, the son, the friend, the educator, the professional and up-and-coming Richmondite that our students themselves strive to be. We love you Franky!" "Frankie is amazing! He holds students incredibly accountable while still giving them 100% assurance that he loves them and is on their side. Plus he does this all without breaking a sweat! He is always so cool, calm and collected ... keep doing what it is that you do." A recent interview with Franky: What is your favorite thing about working at Caliber? My favorite thing about working at Caliber is supporting the kids who need the most help. What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why? Math, I really like numbers. What is your favorite memory associated with music (maybe a memorable concert, or playing an instrument yourself!)? I would have to say taking my grandfather to a concert to see his favorite artist. He’s my hero and my everything. He's always working and never has time to have any fun and taking him out was an honor for me. If you could go on a dream vacation, what would you do + where would you go? Fiji! I'm a tropical person. I want to be in one of those huts that stand in the middle of the ocean and be able to wake up to see water and fishes as my floor would be awesome! I love the water, sand and seeing fishes swim. What is your favorite thing about the Bay Area (or specifically Richmond )? My favorite thing of Richmond is the culture and the community. What is one fun fact that most people don't know about you? I love to cook. I can cook anything from pastas to anything that requires barbecuing. I would say my specialty is smoked ribs!  Words about Andres from his teachers:
"Andres is a student who leads by example in the classroom and you can always count on him having a smile on his face." "When I think of Andres, the first word that comes to mind is "sunshine". Andres always comes to school with a positive attitude and a smile on his face. He works extremely hard during the school day, and always does his best in all subject areas. He spreads kindness to his classmates and other adults on campus daily! I feel so lucky to have Andres in my class this year!" A recent interview with Andres: What is your favorite thing about going to school at Caliber? I like learning about ABC’s and I like to read about animals. I like that my homework is to read at home. What is your favorite subject? I like to learn how to count and do things with numbers. Ms. Ford is really nice and helps me a lot with counting. What is your favorite memory associated with music? I like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I hear this song from my dad’s phone at night. We listen to this song at night before I go to sleep. If you could go on a dream vacation, what would you do + where would you go? I would go to the beach in Mexico because I would like to swim there and play in the water. I would go with my mom and my baby brothers. What is your favorite thing about the Bay Area? My favorite thing is the food. My favorite food is pizza. I like all types of pizza! But my mom makes good food too like french fries and chicken. What is one fun fact that most people don't know about you? I have a trampoline at home and we have chickens at home that we feed and dogs. We also make honey at home and my dad collects it. Keep shining, Andres! We are happy to have you be part of our Caliber community!  Alyssa Wheeler is our Program Specialist at Caliber Beta Academy. She is a compassionate, dedicated and inspiring educator. Her positive attitude and energy radiate in the classroom -- and all over campus. We are VERY lucky to have someone that truly embodies our HEART, SMART, THINK and ACT pillars on a daily basis! Words about Alyssa from her coworkers: "Alyssa is an incredible leader. I am so impressed with her depth of knowledge about special education as well as individual student's particular needs. She is always around to answer questions and knows everything that is going on with each member of our team! She is thoughtful with her work and is always striving to adapt the system to meet our students' needs. I see her as a mentor and coach in my work as well as a trusted friend, which is a tough balancing act. I feel so lucky to have her as a colleague." "When I need to sit with the complexity of a child's behaviors and emotions and bring curiosity and compassion to the table, Alyssa is one of my main go-to people! She's expansive in her perspective - always bringing an acute eye, a strong and unwavering heart, and a psychological wisdom that I truly love and admire. She's also a fierce fighter and an advocate for what is just and humane. Big time respect!" "Alyssa has a natural ability to instantaneously connect to our students. She loves to work with kids and enjoys every single minute she has a chance to engage with them. I can clearly see her face lighting up after every interaction. Alyssa is such a hard worker who refuses to stop working even when she is sick or losing her voice; she is committed and loves her work. I really enjoy working alongside her and picking her busy brain. I remember the day she had to hide behind my room divider to finish some work and posted a big note that read: "My Brain has too many tabs open" this was hilarious and served its purpose! Alyssa is very talented and will surely go very far!!" A recent interview with Alyssa: What is your favorite thing about working at Caliber? My favorite thing about working at Caliber is my team. They are the most hardworking, compassionate, and curious individuals I've had the pleasure of working with during my teaching career. I love the collaborative spirit, joyfulness, and commitment they show while working passionately with our fascinating kids who think and learn outside of the traditional 'box.' I love that Caliber is open to making big changes and responding thoughtfully to our students and their diverse, individual needs with humility and urgency. What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why? I was a creative, quirky kid and art has always been my outlet and method for understanding the complexity, beauty, and tragedy of our world. I always enjoyed expressing my thoughts visually and analyzing art and art history. I actually stumbled into teaching and Special Education after teaching at an art museum and managing a docent program. What is your favorite memory associated with music? Music was a huge part of my life growing up because my dad produced local musicians in New Hampshire (where I'm from) and I spent a lot of time with him in the recording studio located in our house. I wrote songs with my younger sister and played in an obnoxious, ridiculously fun noise band in high school with friends. I also learned to play the Celtic harp as a kid, which I still dabble in. If you could go on a dream vacation, what would you do + where would you go? If I could go anywhere, I'd go to Indonesia. It's one place I've never been even though I wrote my college thesis on Javanese textiles. I'd love to experience the art there firsthand and enjoy the tropical weather. What is your favorite thing about the Bay Area (or specifically Richmond)? Our Caliber community. I started working here when I first moved to the Bay Area two years ago and it really rooted me as an individual and educator. I also love the access to nature, culture, vegetarian food, and my wonderful friends up here. What is one fun fact that most people don't know about you? I competed nationally in baton twirling/gymnastics growing up, but most people wouldn't guess that about me because I'm still extremely clumsy! |
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June 2018
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