With the school year half way done, some students are still wondering about some of our new teachers. One of the newest additions to the CCHS community this year was Ms. Lisa Clave. Ms. Clave is originally from San Diego where she attended Torrey Pines High School. After graduating, she attended UCSB.

While there, along with being a sorority sister, she was planning to major in mechanical engineering and then changed her major to Mathematics and Statistics so she could open more doors in her career choices.

She originally wanted to be an engineer but then realized that she wanted to help others directly, and thus came up with the rewarding career of being a teacher. After college, she moved out to Texas and taught math and worked as a young life counselor. One of the schools she worked at was considered an inner-city school and even had metal detectors in the entryways. When she moved back to San Diego, she knew she wanted to work at a private school and fell in love with Cathedral as soon as she saw the campus.

After moving back to San Diego, she looked into Cathedral.  “A position at CCHS opened up just before school started this fall; I was called in to interview and was immediately impressed with the campus, and quickly realized what a wonderful and supportive administration and faculty I would be working with,” said Ms. Clave. “When CCHS offered me a position, I accepted.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to work here.”

The opening Ms. Clave was lucky to take advantage of was due to one of our Cathedral math teachers being deployed in the Navy.

Ms. Clave works in the Learning Center for every period except Red 2, during which she teaches a Geometry B class. While in the learning center, she helps specifically with math and science; her Geometry B class is her only math class and because of this she uses Mr. Derenthal’s room for that during Red 2.

Ms. Clave has felt very welcome this year and really enjoys being a part of community. “I love the sense of community that I feel on this on campus, and that sense of community would not be complete without the students, the fellow teachers, the administration, and all of the faculty and staff,” she said.

Students describe her math class as fun, engaging, and an overall good experience. “Ms. Clave’s class is really fun. It’s really easy to learn about geometry in her class, and she makes learning fun,” said sophomore Ross Simanteris, “I’m able to understand so much more after switching into her class.”