Familiar faces: Lincoln staff promoted to Vice Principals

James McGee and Jo Ann Wadkins have been promoted to vice principals for the 2018-19 school year. Alfredo Quintero and Sean Mailey, previous Lincoln VPs, moved to new schools last year. McGee was a counselor last year, as well as advisor for Brothers of Color, and Wadkins was the IB Coordinator and IB Physics teacher. Read more about our new VPs in our next issue.

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Matt Reed: Social Studies

Classes: American Sign Language 1-2, IB Global Politics, Freshman Inquiry & Leadership

Previous Experience: Taught for 2 years at Westview High School

What drew you to Lincoln: “Obviously [Lincoln] has an incredible reputation. I feel really inspired by my colleagues in the social studies department … and I have the opportunity to teach ASL, which is a very personal thing for me. So in some ways, it feels like I got to fulfill a dream I didn’t think was possible this early in my career.”

Fun Fact: Enjoys bike riding and “fruit foraging” across the city

Melani Hammericksen: Culinary Arts

Subject: Culinary Arts

What drew you to Lincoln: “I worked in restaurants for 15 years and got a job at the Oregon Culinary Institute. I got a call from Ms. Chapman asking to teach.”

Fun fact: “I love Mexican food and I am one of eight children.”

Chuck Slusher: Math

Class: Algebra 1-2 & 3-4

Why did you come back to Lincoln: “I was offered the opportunity as the instructional specialist [and] I love Lincoln so I decided to come back.”

Fun Fact: Has taught at Lincoln before. He also served in the Peace Corp and has earned a PhD.

Jeremy Johnson: Math and Football

Subject: Geometry, F.L.I. Leadership and Head Football Coach

What drew you to Lincoln: “Coaching and teaching…for the past 5 years. I’ve been looking for positions that would challenge me. When this position came up I applied to it.”

Fun Fact: A big technology guru

Neomi Navarro: Counselor

What are you excited about: “I’m excited about being in a new school building, learning the school culture here and being an advocate for our students.”

Fun Fact: Favorite flavor of ice cream is marionberry sorbet

Lori Lieberman: Librarian

Previous Experience: Worked at law libraries in San Francisco and Los Angeles for 11 years helping attorneys with research.

What drew you to Lincoln: “It seemed like an interesting challenge because I had worked at elementary and middle schools before.”

Fun Fact: “In college we were required to take P.E. courses to graduate, so I took fencing, ballroom dancing, and skydiving.”

Rebecca Eisenberg: Social Studies

Classes: US History Ethnic Studies, IB History HL, and Inquiry & Leadership

What drew you to Lincoln: After moving back to Portland from D.C. this year, primarily to be closer to family, she heard about Lincoln’s great reputation. Although she doesn’t quite know what to look forward to yet; she is most excited for getting to know the students. She is excited to teach “a subject that I love in a city that I love and to kids that I’ve heard great things about.”

Proudest Life Achievement: Other than having two kids, she is most proud of getting her Masters in History while working a full time job, and coaching two sports (track and cross country).

Anne Wolfstone: English

Classes: English 5-6, English 7-8, Freshman English “ FLI” classes (Freshman Leadership Initiative)

Why she came to Lincoln: “I came to Lincoln because I wanted to start my teaching career in Portland. I’m from Portland originally.  I’ve been away for a while, travelling and teaching elsewhere, so I came back to Portland just to be closer to home, and to experience it through a different lens.”

Favorite Color: changes a lot and is currently basil-green.

Erik Velazquez: Spanish

Previous Experience: Taught at West Sylvan Middle School as a long-term substitute teacher, then at Franklin High School. Also spent the last year observing teachers Profe McHaley-Foley and Profe Todd at Lincoln High School.

What drew you to Lincoln: “I’m excited to learn about the IB curriculum because I think it’s really helpful for the students regarding understanding the dynamics in other cultures outside of the U.S. which is really important because it can help them build their futures.”

Fun fact: Is a professional cellist at the Newport Symphony, Yakima, Portland Civic Orchestra, and has his own string quartet as well as a masters in music performance.

Elizabeth Cannon: English SL

Previous Experience: One and a half years teaching in India, a few years at Gresham High School, and a few years at Hosford Middle School.

What She’s Looking Forward to: Most excited about teaching the newcomers at Lincoln and helping people who are brand new to the U.S.

Fun Fact: Ms Cannon enjoys watching Timbers and Thorns games in her spare time.

Yousef Yousfi: Science and AVID

What brought you to Lincoln: After earning his bachelor of science degree at San Francisco State, he headed to Portland to earn his masters of arts at Concordia University. This brought him to Lincoln to fulfill his student teaching alongside Angie McVay in the physics department. In April, he was approached with an opportunity to substitute a math class for Melody Walker who was on maternity leave. The next year, a full time physics job opened up and Ms. Chapman reached out to Yousfi with the job offer.

Fun Fact: Loves the comic book world. He currently owns a “massive comic book collection” and attends every Marvel/DC opening night showing at the cinemas.

Shamai Laresn: Counselor

Reason came to Lincoln: To work closer to home, as well as to be in an environment in which she could be inspired by her coworkers

Fun Fact: In the Army for 10 years before becoming a teacher, “Serving in leadership roles in the Army I was tasked with mentoring younger soldiers, helping them to set and work toward both personal and professional goals. This was my favorite part of my time in the service, and what led me to pursue my passion to work with high school students.”

Kim Bliss: IB Coordinator

Classes: Theory of Knowledge

What drew you to Lincoln: “Lincoln has one of the most comprehensive and robust IB programs in Oregon. The course offerings are spectacular and well established. There is amazing support from the administration and Ms. Chapman. Students here are dynamic, driven, intelligent, hardworking and involved in their community.”

Fun Fact: Has been to 30 countries