Brahmas retrace their steps
Many faculty members experienced the shift from student to teacher.
Diamond Bar High School graduates who became staff members at the high school include biology teacher Jazmine Silver (c/o 2011), technology coordinator Randy Thomas (c/o 1984) and history teacher Lindsay Arnold (c/o 2000).
Nineteen graduates of Diamond Bar High School have disproved the old saying, “You can’t go home again.”
The former Brahma students have returned to the campus and hold a variety of positions, including teachers, GLCs and department directors.
Randy Thomas, who is in his 31st year of working at DBHS, was part of the original 1984 graduating class.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in education from Stanford University, he came back to Diamond Bar. He is the school technology coordinator and web administrator.
“It’s nice now to be part of the institutional knowledge of the school,” Thomas said. “I was here on the first day of school, and now I’m still here 37 years later. I was also the first student body president of Diamond Bar High School, and so I was really involved in the rooms, in the school opening, choosing of colors and mascot. I feel like I’m still part of that long history and now I’m kind of a repository of what happened.”
Half of the GLCs at DBHS are alumni. Richard Gonzales (1985), Sonja Burns (1998), Stephanie Duenas (2002) and Jenna Brummett (2004) were all once students at Diamond Bar seeking advice from their GLCs.
Mike Bromberg (1998) is the operations manager, Janna Van Horn (1996) is the activities director and Albert Lim (1996) is the athletic director. Alumni brothers Jared and Jacob Kaitz run Diamond Bar’s Drama department, with Jacob serving as the stagecraft/theater manager while Jared teaches drama as well as English I.
In the math department, class of 1988 alumna Maureen Baiz teaches geometry, class of 1999 alumna Jennifer Burns teaches geometry, class of 2003 alumna Courtney Corona teaches Algebra I, class of 2005 alumna Margaret Ku teaches trigonometry/math analysis and class of 2010 alumna Isabella Chiang teaches geometry and trigonometry/math analysis. Ku is also the current International Baccalaureate program coordinator, and Chiang also teaches AP Psychology.
In the 1980s, Stacy Tenace (1988) was a member of the Taurus, Diamond Bar’s yearbook; now she’s the adviser to the publication along with teaching English. In the social studies department, class of 1996 alumna Jill Marquez teaches civics and economics while Lindsay Arnold (2000) teaches AP European History, AP U.S. History and IB History.
Arnold, who received a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in education at Biola University, returned to DBHS 15 years ago. She said she was inspired to teach by the creative teachers she had at Diamond Bar, including history teacher Emily Clark and former Spanish teacher Christine Buccola.
“[Mrs. Clark] has become one of my closest friends over the years and I never would have imagined that when I was a student,” Arnold said via email.
Class of 2011 graduate Jazmine Silver returned to DBHS in 2017 after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in biology and a teaching credential from Cal Poly Pomona, receiving a master’s degree in administration from National University and teaching at Woodcrest Junior High School in Ontario. She currently teaches regular, honors and Pathways biology.
“I’m comfortable with Diamond Bar High School; I know what it’s like, I know where all locations are, how the teachers teach [and] how the students are,” Silver said.
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