Ms. Carillo

Ms. Carillo, as she prefers to be called, always wanted to be an actor or a lawyer but she became a teacher by accident. She never wanted to be a teacher because she was scared that karma was going to get her and it did. Everything she gave to her teachers, she got double of it. What motivated her  to keep going was to get what she wanted, because no one was going to stop her and she knew she was going to become greater than what she ever thought.

Ms. Carillo was a vice principal here at Hoover, but then she left to be a principal at an elementary school, and she loved it more because of the little kids. They would always hug her and complement her outfits, and say that she looked cute, which made her happy. It was going to be a really hard decision for her to leave her comfortable job that she really loved but she had to leave because she wanted to come help Hoover.

Ms. Carillo left her house at 17 and went to UC Riverside. She received a bachelor’s degree and went on to become a lawyer. After graduation, she was going to get a job to pay off some student loans. She was a social worker but she saw that the one thing that her family had in common was that they didn’t have a trade or a skill to get a job and support and provide for their family. She realized she was helping people once they were homeless but she wasn’t helping people to avoid becoming homeless so that’s how she fell to education. She went back to school and got her teacher accreditation. Ms. Carillo then went to University of San Diego to get her administration degree and then she went to Harvard to get a certification of education leadership.

One advice Ms.Carillo could give to the seniors that are going to college is that “if you want something so much, don’t take no for an answer.”

One of Ms.Carillos favorite memories being a principal is that one of her students told her that they are proud of her. It made her want to cry because it makes her feel good to hear nice things from people that care for her. It makes her realize that students actually take her advice and listen to her so it makes her feel good because she loves to help her students out and she wants the best for them. Another memory was after being back at Hoover, students who were practicing saw her and asked her if she was coming back and when she told them she was the new principal, they shouted “LET’S GOOOOO MS. CARILLO IS FINALLY BACK!”

“The one that wants to do it, it’s going to look for ways to get it done and the one that doesn’t it’s just going to look for excuses and they are both easy to find,” was something Ms.Carillo dad would always say to her.  It’s also a really important thing for her and she shares  it with the students.

Mr. Leon

Mr. Armando Leon is a hardworking educator who’s proud of his job and being able to put kids on a good path and care about their education.

He enjoys his job as one of the new associate principals at Hoover High School and says it’s very demanding. He’s grateful for being able to give back to the same community he grew up in since most administrators don’t always go back and also to build trust with students and their guardians. He believes by building a school that students and staff want to be at, helps make them feel valued, heard, respected, and safe. He wants to improve attendance rates.

He said that as far as attendance goes, it’s not the best but compared to other schools the attendance rate at Hoover isn’t terrible. In addition, tardiness is still a very big issue and probably always will be but in comparison to last school year, students are still late but for a less amount of time. Therefore, the hallways are actually empty and students are in class ready to learn.

In addition, Mr. Leon not only believes in the new phone policy but has proof that studies show that cell phones are drainful and have a negative impact on student education. This proves that cell phones being distracting is factual and not just adults trying to bother kids. He realized this job was his destined path while working at Monroe Clark Middle School as a teacher assistant. He experienced the power teachers and educators had on students by their words and could uplift a student or bring them down. This led him here at Hoover to motivate young people and let them know they have the power to be whatever they want.

“Academic success by design not by chance,” states Mr. Leon.

Mrs. Wiltshire

Mrs. Cherese Wiltshire is one of the new associate principals on Hoover High School’s campus.

Mrs. Wiltshire has been an educator for 13 years and in the San Diego Unified School District for nine of those years. Before coming to Hoover, she taught elementary school, predominantly first grade, and later moving up into the upper grades The thing that made her want to become an administrator was that she realized the impact she was having on students within her four walls in her classroom, and felt that if she wanted to help more kids she had to move beyond her classroom and into a leadership position.

As a new associate principal, Mrs. Wiltshire has been able to interact more with students on a larger scale and is looking to help change the system in a way that can benefit all students and not oppress them. She loves it here at Hoover, and the staff and students are her favorite things about Hoover.  It is the relationships that she is building with kids and staff and getting to know them that has been great.

The thing that she is most excited about this year is becoming a part of the Hoover community from all the events, to spirit days, and to sporting events. She is from Los Angeles County, but her parents immigrated from the Caribbean. Her father is from Barbados and her mother is from Antigua.  In her free time, she loves to go to Sunday brunches and watch Netflix.  She also likes to dance and read comics.

Mr. Boertmann

Mr. Joe Boertmann is in his second year as an associate principal at Hoover Hoover High School.

Mr. Boertmann had been a band teacher for 15 years before becoming an administrator. He became interested in administration from past mentors and people he respected.  They started to encourage him and said he would make a great administrator. Although he had thought about it, it took him a few years before fully committing himself to become an administrator.

He has two main priorities: make sure every student feels safe to be on campus, and to ensure that scholars have a concrete plan during their four years at Hoover. He tries to work with students to come up with a specific plan that works with their career path after graduation. To help scholars graduate, he first has to support the teachers.

Mr. Boertmann also wants to aid teachers in classrooms and find strategies to help students. He, alongside teachers, helps students overcome barriers and obstacles they have. He would meet with teachers and come up with strategies to improve the learning environment. Or if needed, he could intervene and talk straight with the student. Overall he states that it really depends on what the teacher or student needs.

He also likes to refer to the following quote:

“No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen a friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each others worth”  – Robert Southey