Staff Biographies
Lauren has been a progressive educator in Pasadena for 15 years and was one of Odyssey's Founding Teachers. She received her Masters Degree in Education and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from Pacific Oaks College. She is passionate about public education and believes by working together students, teachers and parents can foster a thoughtful learning environment that includes a sense of compassion, awareness and sensitivity to each other. She believes children learn and work best in a cooperative, non-competitive environment where student's thoughts and opinions are honored and respected.
She is dedicated to creating an environment where students wide range of interests and talents can be uncovered, encouraged and nurtured. She believes learning best occurs through active participation where children have opportunities to freely explore, discover, question and investigate. Lauren empowers children to make responsible choices and works with her students to build a safe learning environment. Outside of Odyssey, Lauren enjoys gardening, traveling and reading.
This is Rachelle's fifth year with Odyssey Charter School. Prior to coming to Odyssey, Rachelle worked at Cal Poly Pomona as the Coordinator of Residential Education and Leadership for the Housing Department. As well as the Project Coordinator for the Careers in Child Care Project at East Los Angeles College, in collaboration with the Cal Works Department. Rachelle also worked with the National Conference for Community and Justice doing Human Relations trainings, and was the Director of NCCJ's Latina/o College Leadership Institute. She earned her Bachelors Degree in Child Development at Whittier College and her Master of Arts Degree in Leadership Studies from the University of San Diego. She enjoys spending her free time with her son Asa, and the newest addition to her family, her daughter Ayla.
Robynn will be returning for her ninth year at Odyssey. Her journey with Odyssey began as a Teacher's Aide. In her second year, she went on to be an Associate Teacher along side Lila Mangan for the 5th/6th grade Math and Science class. During her third year at Odyssey, she moved to the 6/7/8th grade Math/Science class until she moved to the front office as the Office Manager. Her son's Kristopher and Kameron graduated from Odyssey in the class of 2000 and 2006.
Mayra Rodriguez
Administrative Assistant
mayrar@ocsmail.org
Mayra is the new face in the office as Administrative Assistant. This past summer she graduated from UC Riverside with a B.A. in English and an eager desire to work in the field of Education. Mayra is a student of life and hopes to continue her path to a higher education in the future. With a fresh degree and a new baby, the new year will prove to be nothing short of amazing for Mayra. She looks forward to being a part of the Odyssey family.
Carlos García Saldaña is the newest staff member to join the OCS family as School Counselor & Director of Community Relations. Before coming to Odyssey, Carlos served as Academic Advisor & Coordinator for Undeclared Programs at Cal State Fullerton where he also worked as the Retention Coordinator for the College of Engineering & Computer Science. While completing his graduate studies, he was an academic advisor in the College of Behavioral & Social Sciences at the University of Maryland; and has also served as Student Activities Advisor at his alma mater, Cal Poly Pomona.
Carlos’ interests lie in the areas of educational equity and access. As a scholar and practitioner, staying abreast on modern educational research is one of the many ways he enjoys spending some free time, along with home repairs and time with friends and family. Carlos earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Cal Poly Pomona and a Master of Education in Counseling & College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland.
Emily Brockman is very excited to be starting her fourth year at Odyssey Charter School and her seventh year as an Inclusion Specialist. Emily came to Odyssey from the Alhambra Unified School District, where she worked with a diverse population of learners in several elementary schools. Education is a second career for Emily. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Georgia, worked as a paralegal coordinator and human resource manager for a law firm, and then became actively involved in her children's education. She earned her Education Specialist, Level I Credential in 2002 and will complete her Level II credential at CSUN this year. Emily had the opportunity to student teach at Chime Charter School in Northridge, a model for inclusive education. She is a firm believer in differentiated instruction, cooperative learning and the inclusive classroom.
Aaron Kurlychek
Technology Specialist
aaronk@ocsmail.org
Aaron Kurlychek is now in his second year at Odyssey. He brings a very unique background to the school. Aaron taught at the K-8 level out of state for three years. He also spent two years overseas teaching English in Venezuela, Ecuador and Thailand. Prior to getting into education he came from a journalism background, reporting in both print and broadcast media in the Seattle area.
Aaron has a Masters in Elementary Teaching from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA and a BA in Journalism from The University of Washington, Seattle. He enjoys working with kids across the curriculum using the latest technology. He believes computers provide an empowering force for kids by harnessing their creativity through producing and publishing dynamic projects.
Daniel Schmidt
6th/7th/8th Grade Visual Literacy
daniels@ocsmail.org
Daniel Schmidt has been at Odyssey Charter School since its first year. Originally a Language Arts and History teacher, Daniel created a Visual Literacy course for the OCS Middle School. The focus of the course is to learn how to read and understand the language, history, and contexts of visual arts in the modern era. Daniel believes that "in the age of media, understanding of visual images is as complex and essential as the understanding and appreciation of the written word". In addition to being the Arts Director, Daniel also teaches history to the Middle School and heads the Advisory Program at Odyssey. Daniel's personal time is spent writing fiction and music, enjoying films, and traveling about the world as far and frequently as his teacher's salary will allow.
Aaron Bergmann
7th/8th Grade Math/Science Teacher
Before coming to Odyssey, Aaron spent the previous 41/2 years teaching 17 different classes to over 320 students from 6 different grades in 5 different institutions located in 2 countries. He is excited to spend the next several years at Odyssey raising those statistics as the 7th and 8th grade math and science teacher. He believes the key to building life long learners is curiosity, enthusiasm, and student discovery, so that's what he hopes you'll see in his classroom. In addition to math and science, Aaron also gets pretty "geeked out" whenever he is involved in theater, music, or the outdoors. He received his Masters and Bachelors degree at Lehigh University, but learned (and continues to learn) how to teach from his students and peers.
Gurupreet Khalsa
6th/7th/8th Grade Language Arts Teacher
gurupreetk@ocsmail.org
Classroom Website
Gurupreet is a Founding Teacher and begins her tenth year with Odyssey (and her 20th year of teaching) as our Language Arts and History teacher for the 6th-8th grade instructional team. Gurupreet's greatest excitement comes from assisting students in discovering knowledge and concepts that help them to grow as human beings. When young people become lifelong readers and learners, examining how their lives interact with the world around them, she feels that her job as a teacher has been accomplished.
She strongly believes that literature, poetry, and history can provide intellectual foundations for students to create their own views of the world and that competent language and writing skills can help them to express these views in the most effective way. Responsibility and a commitment to excellence are some of her major goals for students.
Gurupreet is a National Board certified teacher and is actively involved with the California Writing Project. She earned her Bachelors Degree in English (with a History minor) and Professional Clear Single Subject Teaching Credential in English from the University of Montevallo, Alabama. She completed her Masters Degree in Education at Cal State University, Los Angeles.
Jamie Leigh Freeland
6th Grade Math/History Teacher
Classroom Website
Jamie has a wide range of educational and life experiences that allow her to bring creative, thought-provoking lessons to students. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from CSU Fullerton, through whom I was able to spend a year of study in Florence, Italy. Currently, she is completing a Master of Arts in Education at Antioch University Los Angeles, with a focus on social justice, ecological literacy, and leadership. Between degrees, she spent a summer as volunteer teacher in Dharamsala, India. She taught all ages from preschool to adults, but most often my students became her teachers!
For the last two and half years, Jamie taught multiple grades at a bilingual school in Whittier. Previously, she was the Academic Coordinator and Teacher for an English language school for adults and children. Jamie frequently volunteer for youth organizations in Los Angeles and Pasadena area, most recently at a Rock the Vote concert held for middle school students.
As an educator, Jamie firmly believes that the classroom is place where students should have freedom of expression and choice. Classroom learning experiences should be flexible in order to meet the learning styles and needs of all students.
Jessica Maker-Bilandzija
6th Grade Language Arts/Science Teacher
The 2008/2009 school year will be Jessica's first year as a teacher at Odyssey. With her older daughter entering the first grade, Jessica has been an active parent in the Odyssey community and is thrilled to expand her role in the 6th grade classroom.
Jessica earned her B.A. in English at Sonoma State University with an emphasis on teaching in 2000 and her California Single Subject Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University in 2002. She began her teaching career in San Francisco at Mission High School in 2002 as an English teacher. Prior to that she worked at several elementary schools as a reading and writing tutor through Ameri Corps, assistant P.E. teacher, and summer school director throughout San Diego and San Francisco. After the birth of her first daughter in late 2002, Jessica left the classroom and opened her own pre and post-natal fitness business right here in Pasadena.
With both of her daughters now a bit older, she has been given a wonderful opportunity to re-enter the educational world with a 6th grade job-share position. She and Ms. Cecily look forward to preparing their students emotionally, academically and socially for their middle and high school experiences. And with both of them sharing a passion for health and fitness, they promise to have the fittest 6th graders in Altadena! This is going to be a very exciting year!
Sylvia Corona
4th/5th Grade Multiage Teacher
sylviac@ocsmail.org
Classroom Website
This is Sylvia's fourth year at Odyssey Charter School. Sylvia Corona is in her 9th year of teaching. Prior to Odyssey, she worked 5 years as a fifth grade teacher at Norwood St. Elementary in LAUSD. She received her BA in English Literature and teaching credential at Concordia University in Irvine, CA. She is passionate about education and is continuously seeking ways to grow as an educator.
This will be Dave's third year at Odyssey. He taught in Pasadena for seven years at Allendale Elementary School in grades 4-6. While at Allendale, Dave was the GATE coordinator, Math Field Day coordinator, and he participated in a home tutorial program to work with struggling readers and model strategies to help parents work with their children. Dave also began an after school math and soccer program. The last four years Dave worked at a charter shcool in Los Angeles where he was a founding teacher. He was proud to begin a sucessful Reading and Writing Workshop Program for over two hundred middle school students. Dave recieved his B.A. in History from UC Berkley and a Master's in Education from Claremont Graduate University. He got married last summer, his wife Diana is also a teacher. They had their first child, Daniel, last year.
Linda Banuelos
2nd/3rd Grade Multiage Teacher
This is Linda's first year as a classroom teacher at Odyssey. Prior to becoming a classroom teacher Linda completed her student teaching and two long term substitute positions at Odyssey. Linda received her B.A. in Human Development and teaching credential from Pacific Oaks College.
Linda is happy to have found such a great fit here at Odyssey and looks forward to growing as an educator and continuing to build relations with the Odyssey family. In her free time Linda enjoys going to the beach, scrap booking, running and kickboxing.
Tammy Ritter
2nd/3rd Grade Multiage Teacher
tammyr@ocsmail.org
This will be Tammy Ritter's second year at Odyssey. Prior to coming to Odyssey she taught kindergarten for one year as well as first grade for two years at Myers Elementary School in Rialto. Tammy received her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from Cal Poly Pomona. She completed her teaching credential and Master's Degree in Education from Claremont Graduate University. She is committed to creating a lifelong love for learning.
Tammy was born and raised here in southern California. She spent a year living in Cape Cod, Massachusetts where she provided over 1700 hours of community service to the fragile natural resources of Cape Cod as an Americops member. Americorps-Cape Cod is an environmental program that is dedicated to land conservation, water conservation, and environmental education. During her year of service she was committed to teaching school children about marine life, the importance of recycling, and being kind to our planet Earth.
Tammy is thrilled to be a part of the Odyssey team. She looks forward to learning new things and meeting new people. In her free time, she enjoys camping, spending time with her family and friends, and taking her dogs to the beach.
Jessica Yarger
2nd/3rd Grade Multiage Teacher
jessicay@ocsmail.org
The 2007-2008 school year will be Jessica's fourth year teaching in a school age classroom. Prior to coming to Odyssey, she was a teacher for Head Start and was a supervisor for an after school program run by the L.A. Unified School District. She completed her teaching credential in June at Pacific Oaks College where she is also completing her Master's Degree in Human Development. Jessica received her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Jessica was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Fernando Valley in North Hollywood. She lived for seven years in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, in Oregon and Washington, where she completed her undergraduate work. It was there they she developed a love for the outdoors, gardening, and community development. Before returning to Los Angeles, Jessica lived for a year abroad, doing community development work in Nicaragua and traveling in South America. She is fluent in Spanish.
Jessica is very excited to be joining the team at Odyssey. She is looking forward to meeting and getting to know her students and families. Jessica believes that her role as a teacher is to provide children the opportunities to develop into life long learners through their own inquiry and discovery.
Denise Martinez
K/1st Multiage Teacher
denisem@ocsmail.org
This will be Denise's fourth year at Odyssey. She completed her Masters in Education at Antioch University with a focus on school gardens. Prior to Odyssey Denise worked and volunteered with various non-profits. She worked with homeless children and continues to volunteer with high-risk youth creating arts and education programs. She also worked in the film industry as a costume designer. She is passionate about the environment and is becoming an avid gardener; she tries to incorporate both into her teaching with a focus on creating, questioning, and exploration. She believes that children learn best when they can apply knowledge to past and present personal experience. She loves to hike, travel, get immersed in a good book, work in the garden, and cook.
Erin is excited to join the Odyssey community! She has been teaching first grade for the last two years at a charter school in downtown Los Angeles. Erin is committed to progressive education and believes in teaching through authentic learning experiences. She especially loves teaching young children writing and watching their creativity and academic strengths blossom through their stories and poems.
Erin grew up in Los Angeles and went to USC, but always draws on her international experience, as well as her graduate time at Teachers College in New York City into the classroom. In her spare time, she loves reading, being green, and spending lots of time with her large, growing family.
Lisa Hamberger
K/1st/Multiage
Lisa is new to OCS. She has been teaching for the last four years and has her masters in project based learning from UC Santa Barbara .She traveled around the world before starting her education and lived and worked with children in China.
After graduating from the UCSB teachers program she worked as a K-1 teacher in Santa Ynez valley near Santa Barbara. Lisa then moved to Los Angeles to teach at Los Feliz Charter School Through The Arts. She was a founding teacherl and taught first grade for two years. During her time at LFCSA she was trained in Readers and Writer’s workshop, and Project Based learning in Science and Social Studies both at LFCSA and Corinne A. Seeds University Elementary School at UCLA. Lisa was also able to implement an art curriculum with much success. She continued her education in Readers and Writers Workshop by attending an institute at Columbia Teachers College in New York City this past summer.
Lisa was born and raised in Santa Barbara to immigrant parents from Germany. The first language she spoke was German and she spent many summers in Germany tasting good food and amazing chocolate. Lisa said, "Though working with a start up charter is very exciting and informative, I was looking for a charter school where I felt a strong sense of community and where education and being a child was valued. I have found this to be true of OCS and feel very lucky to be a part of the amazing teaching staff here."
Maya, better known as Ms. Maya, enjoys playing work with the Odyssey children. After her own three children left public school she found she needed to keep in touch with children. Although she also works at the newspaper in the Graphic Arts Department, Odyssey energizes her. Outside of her two jobs she tries to do some reading and spiritual studies.
Denny is returning to OCS for his ninth year. He is currently in his senior year at Cal State Los Angeles working towards his Bachelors Degree and teaching Credential. On his off time he enjoys playing basketball, reading and working out.
Gloria enjoys working with children and she is glad to be back at Odyssey. This is Gloria's third year back at Odyssey. Prior to that, she worked as a Dental Assistant for eight years. When she left Odyssey she worked at the Children Center at Caltech with six month to five year olds. Gloria began as a volunteer at her children's school for about four years and has also taken a few early childhood classes in the Pasadena Unified School District ROP program. She has also taken UCLA Extension courses and classes at PCC.
Brenda enjoys working with children and is excited to join the Odyssey team as a teacher's aide. This will be Brenda's second year at Odyssey. She currently attends Pasadena City College and previously worked as an aide for a pre-school. Brenda enjoys walking her two dogs and traveling with friends and family when time permits.
This is Salvador's fourth year here at Odyssey. He attended Pasadena City College, which he plans to return next semester. His goal is to one day be teaching at Odyssey.
This is Phillip's second year at Odyssey. He is currently attending Pasadena City College, finishing a few classes to get his AA degree. He is planning to transfer to UCLA, where he intends to major in Graphic Desgin and Philosophy. He currently owns his own Graphic Design and apparel company called Anim. Ink.
Phillip loves water polo and swimming. Because of his love for water, he became interested in life guarding, so he began to increase his knowledge of the first responder by taking an EMT class and getting a certificate of completion. He is also currently taking a personal training course to raise his awareness on the effects of physical activity on the human body. His goal in life is to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Being at Odyssey Charter School is a great opportunity where that is possible, as well as, gives him a chance to be an example for the children of our future.
