Can you tell me a little about yourself?

“My name is Kathryn Gossell. I teach the CTE Pathway of Sports and Entertainment Marketing, which is the second class in the three-class pathway series. I also teach IB Business Management. I’ve lived here in Granite Bay for the past 14 years. I have four kids…When the opportunity presented itself to come and teach and be with teenagers, I jumped at the opportunity. I love being with this age group and this student community, and (it) just lights me up.”

What made you want to teach business?

“I came from a big teaching family. I never thought I was going to be a teacher, but my mom’s a teacher. My sisters are teachers, and it was one of those things where in the post COVID world, I wanted to be someone that was rooting for (students). I wanted to share my experience and my knowledge to be able to help further (students) educational career here. It just felt like such a natural progression and a natural step.”

What do you like most about teaching Sports and Entertainment Marketing?

“What I like most about marking is that each person gets to see where they can run with something. It’s neat because it doesn’t matter if you are more finance minded, sales minded, business minded, or a creative kind of person because we really are combining all of those different components together. I love seeing that diversity and watching that creativity flow, and they all have permission to do their own route to take their own path.”

What about IB Business Management?

“The thing that I would say I love most about IB Business is being able to bring that level of an introduction and curriculum here to really help challenge our student body. Also, most of the students that take IB Business Management probably toys with the idea of having some sort of business component in their future. So being able to introduce it to (students) at this age is a great surface level introduction. When you start to see it later on, whether it’s in further education at a college level or if it’s in a business career component, it’s nice that they have just a very base- level foundation of each of those main components.”

What would you like to do in your free time? Any hobbies that you like?

“This is going to sound funny, but in my free time, the thing I love to do is cooking and baking. To me, if I need to relax or just have some downtime, you’ll find me in the kitchen cooking. That’s one of my favorite things. I love going to the beach. It can be a lake beach, ocean beach…Beach all the way! Also (my family) will do those random Bob Ross paint nights at home. I love any opportunity that I can have fun with my family. I think in my classroom and outside of my classroom, I love the idea of having shared experiences and memories together. So when you’re in my classroom, you’re part of my family. Hopefully, the students in my class will have one of those memories that they can draw from and be like,’Oh yeah, that was a good time’.”

Is there anything else that you would like people to know about you?

“I’m a pretty authentic person, like what you see is what you get. One of the things that I feel pretty strongly about is looking at each of my students, not as they are, but as they can be. Sometimes, we need someone to see the potential in us to help spark that possibility. I like to be able to see people for what they can be because I think all of us need a cheerleader who has our back. Hopefully, I can be that for my students. They know, and I’ve told them (that) when you’re in my class or if I see you anywhere, I’ll always have your back.”

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

“My name is Emilie Taylor, and this semester, I teach English Language Development 1 and World Studies and next semester, I teach World Studies, AP US History and ELD Seminar.” 

Why did you decide to work at Granite Bay High School?

“I did my student teaching here at Granite Bay a couple years ago, and I really just enjoyed my time here. I really enjoyed the people. I got the opportunity to work with and learn from the (history) department. When a job finally opened up, I just jumped at the opportunity to come back.”

Why did you decide to teach ELD and history?

“I had a lot of experience working with ELD students at the time. I was at Lincoln before I came here, and I really like(d) making those connections and working with those students. I was excited when they gave me the opportunity to work with the students here. When it comes to history, I always loved history. I was in college, just taking my general ed history classes, and I realized (that) I should just major in history. I just said,’Do something you love and you know.’”

What do you like most about teaching history?

“I love giving kids the opportunity to see different perspectives within the United States and around the world (by) looking at things from different angles. I like helping students make connections to the past to how this affects their lives today. I just get really excited about that.”

In your free time, do you like to do any hobbies?

“I coach a lot of volleyball. I’m the girls’ freshman coach here. I coached boys (volleyball) club.

I don’t have much time for my own hobbies, but if I do have time, I grew up in the foothills, so I love going hiking. I like going to the river in the summertime.”

Is there anything else that you want people to know about you?

“I really, really like building relationships with students. I think that’s one of my strengths as a teacher, so I really love being here. At Granite Bay, the students are very friendly and very polite, so it’s a great place to be (at).”

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

“My name is Marainne Schaffeld, and I teach Spanish at Granite Bay High School.”

Why did you decide to work as a Spanish teacher? 

“My parents were both teachers (so) I thought it’d be a good way to follow my passion to help others learn. I think learning a foreign language will help traveling and exploring cultures. I also have taught ceramics and art, and I enjoy that as well.”

What do you like most about teaching Spanish?

“It’s fun to see kids from Spanish 1 who know nothing, and by the time they’re done with my class, they actually can carry on a conversation.”

If anyone is interested in Spanish, what would you like to recommend to them?

“It’s a great opportunity to learn about culture and possibilities. I would say find something that’s interesting, that makes you want to learn about Spanish or whatever foreign language. If you’re an artist, then look at Spanish artists. If you’re a soccer player, then maybe learn about some (Spanish) soccer players. Some of the different aspects in culture are fun ways to get more motivated.”

In high school, did you take Spanish and art?

“Spanish was (an) elective we had available at our school. I went to a private Catholic school. I had two electives in four years, and I took home economics which was cooking, sewing (and) finances.”

In your free time, do you like to do art and ceramics?

“(In) my free time, I help teach classes at an art gallery, and I am always making arts or crafts. My art is impacted by my ethnicity. I am Basque, and my art reflects my culture. I have three children and almost six grandkids,so I spend time with them. Oftentimes, I will take art projects for them to work on when we’re on vacation, so that they can have interactive art (and) their favorite ceramics.”

On the Granite Bay website, there is a picture of you with a veil. What does this represent?

“It’s a picture of me with mantilla, which is a comb that stocks up and then this veil that hangs over. It was used at my wedding. One of my aunts used it. My mom used it for her First Communion, and my grandparents or my great grandparents brought it from Spain. It was made by hand in a convent.”

Is there anything else that you would like people to know about you?

“ I enjoy teaching, and I enjoy seeing growth in my students.”