Most of the new teachers joining the district this year come from right here in the community, bringing local faces and a deep understanding of Sedro-Woolley to the school and students alike.

This year we’ve received many new teachers. Most of them are Career Technical Education (CTE) teachers. One of those new faces around Sedro-Woolley Highschool is Jessica Ortega.

“I actually graduated from here in 2013, Miss Gwen was my teacher, and I actually went to family consumer sciences after talking to her about it,” said Ortega, the new child psychology teacher and new FCCLA- Family, Career and Community Leaders of America advisor.

A common appearance with these new teachers is that they actually graduated locally. Most of them coming from Bellingham, Anacortes, and even Sedro-Woolley.

“I was at Bellingham High School for the past six years,” Ortega said. “This is always my end goal, because I wanted to teach child psych here because I really wanted the cub club,” she said.
While many of the teachers came from local places, some didn’t want to be a teacher when they were younger.

“No. I was originally going for nursing,” Ortega said, “and then I switched my major,” she said.
Do all teachers come to teach at Sedro-Woolley for the same reason? Well of course not, but some have similar reasons.

“I graduated from Mount Venon, and I always had heard how great Sedro was while I was in Mount Vernon,” said Gracie Luvera, the new senior launch and family health teacher. “And so when I saw that there was an opening, I was really, really excited, because I’ve heard about how kind of tight knit the community is here, and I really love that, and want to get involved, within the community,” she said,
Some teachers and staff love to be involved within the school events while others don’t. That doesn’t change the fact that they are still our teachers.

“I love going to sporting events to support my students. I run FCCLA club with Ortega,” Luvera said, ”So, I love doing that and having students come and join my club. I also love supporting other clubs and activities that students do,” she said.

However not all teachers ever wanted to become a teacher. Depending on the teacher, some actually dreamed of becoming a teacher since they were young, but as the year unfolds, these new faces are already becoming part of the heartbeat of our community.