How do you inspire high school juniors to write a five-page paper about the dichotomy of the 1920s in the United States, and by the way, exactly what does that mean?
Palisades High history teacher Jeanne Saiza makes it seem easy. She was honored this week by the California Charter School Association with a Hart Vision Award for her contribution to increasing student achievement.
“I start by asking students to find a new product from that era,” Saiza said, naming Wrigley’s gum, the Q-tip, the traffic light and Kool-Aid as a few of the inventions students might discover. “Then, I ask them to make a model of the product. On one side they write about a traditional standard of the time and on the other side of the model they write about something new, such as jazz (modern). “That’s when students start to see the dichotomy, or contrast.”
“The 1920s was like herding feral cats, the country was all over the place,” Saiza said, noting that the Scopes trial had focused the public on evolution; jazz and ragtime were the rage (with people arguing whether jazz would last); and the country had immigration quotas that limited the number of Southern and Eastern Europeans.
She said that once students are excited about a time period, writing five pages is no problem.
When teaching American Imperialism (late 1880s and early 1990s), Saiza asks students to become spies. “I tell them they are a secret top advisor to the president. Their mission is to go around the world and see which countries the United States might want to take over and make those recommendations.”
One of the favorite aspects of her job is “lesson planning,” she said. “I always try to come up with something better.”
Born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, Saiza graduated from Irvine High School in 1977, but didn’t receive her teaching credential from UC Irvine until 1989.
“After high school I got married and was sort of a ‘beach bum,’” said Saiza, who over the next 12 years waitressed, worked as a receptionist in a hair salon and then in a flower shop, living first in the South Bay area, then moving to Northern California.
Fortunately in 1983, her life changed when a fellow waitress said, “We’re going back to school.”
Saiza enrolled in Foothill Community College and “I went from being an indifferent student to someone who wrecked the grading curve.” She moved with her husband back to Southern California and enrolled at UC Irvine, then landed her first teaching job: an English instructor for immigrants hoping to become citizens.
“I made $25 an hour and I taught in hotels, above stores and in garages,” Saiza said. “People’s backgrounds ranged from illiterate to having college degrees. I loved teaching, it was so rewarding.”
In 1990, she taught two ESL and three history classes at Century High School in Santa Ana. She was also pregnant with her first child, Kate. “I was sitting at my desk, and one of the ninth graders made me laugh, a big belly laugh,” Saiza recalled. “My water broke.” As soon as the class was over, Saiza notified the administration and then drove herself to the hospital.
Her husband Tom, who is now a district manager for Starbucks overseeing Santa Monica, Malibu and West Los Angeles, was commuting to Los Angeles every day from their home in Newport Beach. To lessen his commute, they moved to Santa Monica and in 1998, Saiza applied at Palisades High School.
“Merle Price hired me but left after the first semester [for an administrative position with the LAUSD],” said Saiza, who praised his talents as a principal. “It felt like he knew you and that you mattered to him. He would stop by the back of the classrooms and listen.”
Saiza has now been through seven principals and praises current principal Dr. Pam Magee for operating similarly to Price. “She is pushing us all to do better. Her vision is on instruction. If we do better in our jobs, we make it better for the kids.”
Currently, Saiza is teaching four U.S. history and two world classes. In addition, she is an advisor for the Junior Statesmen Club of America, an elder for the Village Nation and the 11th-grade professional learning community leader (each department meets weekly to share best practices, create common assessments and common planning calendars).
Her daughters, Kate and Claire, graduated from Santa Monica High and attend Northern Arizona University and Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo, respectively.
“Initially my dream is that they would come to school with me every day, but then puberty hit and it didn’t seem like such a good idea,” Saiza said. “They needed an opportunity to grow and develop away from me. It helped them become more independent.”
“If I could change anything at PaliHi, it would be the class size,” said Saiza, who has 40 kids in each class. “I know each one, but not well enough,” and it means reading hundreds of homework papers.
She had to spend an entire weekend, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. each day, poring over the 1920s assignment. “My students worked really hard and I had to respect that work.”
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