Looking overt their schedules at the beginning of the year, some students may have expected that Mrs. Bruce was a new teacher here at Cathedral Catholic. However, Mrs. Lisa Bruce, a Geometry and Algebra 2 teacher at CCHS, recently married a man named Warren, who currently works in the military. She is not a new teacher at Cathedral, having worked here since 2010; however, as a result of the wedding, Mrs. Bruce’s name changed from Clave to Bruce.

Mrs. Bruce was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in Encinitas. She comes from a family of four – two parents and a brother named Chris.

From about Kindergarten to the end of high school, Mrs. Bruce was an avid soccer player, and during her four years in high school, she also played tennis.

“I played soccer from age 5 to 18 and it took up a lot of my time in high school. I really enjoyed it. It was a great experience and it kept me active and helped me meet a lot of good friends” Outside of school, Mrs. Bruce participated in dance class.

Ironically, she went to Torrey Pines High School, Cathedral Catholic’s rival. “When I tell people that I went to Torrey Pines, I get booed. They are both really great schools, but I really enjoy the students here at Cathedral better. I enjoy the faith community, too. It’s nice to be able to talk about God when my students are having problems.” Academics and sports were Mrs. Bruce’s main focus in high school and something she spent most of her time doing, in addition to being a member of the math club. Her favorite classes in high school were AP Calculus and AP Physics, which explains why Mrs. Bruce is a math teacher. “I love math and loved AP Calc. AP Physics was fascinating and my teacher was absolutely phenomenal.”

Mrs. Bruce attended the University of Santa Barbara. Her goal was to become a mechanical engineer, but shortly before her last year of college, she decided that was not the path she wanted to take, and instead, she began to work in the math field. Before taking a job at Cathedral, Mrs. Bruce worked at a public school in Dallas, Texas, teaching math. “After graduating college, I wanted to be a teacher. I knew that I wanted to work with people and didn’t want to sit behind a desk all day working on engineering. I figured with math, I would have different career options rather than being stuck to one career choice.”

Mrs. Bruce has some suggestions for both incoming freshmen and current high schoolers: “Be yourself, work your hardest and try your best!”