Lick’s English Department is renowned for its focus on empowering reading, writing, and critical thinking, the diversity of the literary and cultural voices included in its curriculum, and its discussion of ethics and social justice. Its teachers work tirelessly to encourage students to explore timeless philosophical questions and the contemporary issues confronting modern society—while providing students with the tools to become astute and proactive citizens. Lick graduates comment on their preparation in analytical thinking and writing, in reading and wondering. In an effort to get to know our dynamic English faculty for the people they are beyond the classroom, the Paper Tiger has profiled each teacher.
Catherine Fung was born in San Jose, California. Growing up, Fung moved around to various California cities. In college she studied English and World Literature, and earned a doctorate in English. After finishing her PhD, Fung moved to Boston for five years to teach English at a university. After getting a job offer from Lick, her love for the West Coast motivated her to move back to the Bay Area. When asked about what drew her to Lick, Fung states, “teaching high school students is gratifying to me because I’m making a bigger impact on the people here compared to college students.” Fung is a passionate community activist, especially with the Black Lives Matter movement. While in college, Fung was involved with campus activism; working with organizations like Students Against Sweatshops and joining protests against tuition hikes and privatization of public education. Today, she works with Asians4BlackLives, an Asian American organization in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. One of her favorite parts about Lick-Wilmerding is its emphasis on social justice awareness and coverage of big picture concepts such as privilege and power. Besides being an activist in her community, Fung also enjoys Taekwondo training and is currently writing a book on literature by refugees of the Vietnam War. She likes the color purple and elephants.
Thelonious Johnson was born in New York City and raised in East Harlem. He enjoyed growing up in New York, remembering East Harlem as a cultural melting pot and a great but very challenging experience that has left a deep impact upon him. Johnson earned his undergraduate degrees in Psychology and English. He found it hard to move away from New York and leave behind its familiar culture, but has found a new home in San Francisco and appreciates its diverse mix of people. Johnson has two sons. Today he enjoys writing and reading for fun, as well as cooking (especially baking bread) and exploring the San Francisco restaurant scene. Johnson’s other interests include sports and hiking in the outdoors. Though he received job offers from Branson and Urban, he says he was drawn to Lick because of its renowned Aim High program which gave him an immediate sense of Lick’s values. He spent many summers working with Aim High. He has not only taught English at Lick, but was also Director of Multicultural Affairs. His favorite color is “in the purple range” (as demonstrated by his classroom fashion) and he loves dogs.
Michecia Jones was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. While growing up, she loved spending time in Los Angeles with her friends—going to late night movies, ice skating, and cruising around on Sunset Boulevard. In high school, Jones became involved in an interpretive forensics team. Jones says, “I generally am a laid back person and this really brought out my competitive edge. I never wanted my team to fail.” As team president, she led the team to win the most competitions in the school’s history. Her undergraduate degree was in English. She acted during her freshman year, playing a lead in “I Ain’t Your Uncle,” a powerful revision of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She regrets not continuing to act. During college, spent in the Bay Area—Jones remarks that she discovered an affinity for the area, a sense of being home. After earning a Masters in Educational Studies in Michigan, she returned to the Bay and taught English at a public school in Oakland. When asked what drew her to Lick, she said, “I really like how Lick students are self motivated, as well as the diversity that is present—especially in the English department.” Outside of reading and writing, Jones enjoys catching up on sleep, trying different types of foods, participating in step aerobics, and watching the X-Files. Though she is anti-favorite things, she does say she especially likes dogs, giraffes, and bears. She particularly likes Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and anything by Roald Dahl.
Alex Jospé was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Concord, Massachusetts. Some of Jospé’s favorite childhood memories include spending time at Walden Pond. He attended both college and grad school in the greater Bay Area, earning his undergraduate degree in Literature and Masters in Teaching English. Jospé loves San Francisco’s location—close to both ocean and mountains—as well as the diversity of the city and the wide variety of events present. Prior to working at Lick, Jospé helped run a literacy program between the University of San Francisco and the San Francisco Unified School District. He was drawn to Lick specifically because of “Lick’s mission of supporting students from all walks of life,” as well as the student energy he felt in the classroom. Jospé enjoys playing sports, hiking, exploring the outdoors, and spending time with his daughters. One of his favorite books is Leaves of the Banyan Tree by Albert Wendt. His favorite color is blue.
Linnea Ogden was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She earned her undergraduate degree in English wirh a minor in Art and a Masters in Fine Arts in poetry. After grad school, she moved to the Bay Area. She loves San Francisco’s hills, views, and 60-degree weather—though she misses East coast seasons. She also enjoys being close to the ocean with a lot of outdoor places nearby, as well as having access to so many beautiful things in the Bay Area. Prior to teaching at Lick, she worked at a small independent printing press, but was able to fulfill both her lifelong passions for teaching and English through finding a position at LWHS. Ogden is a poet. Favorite books include Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay, and The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson, as well as a weird mix of poetry, sci-fi and young adult books, and other genres. Her favorite colors are blue, green and turquoise, or, in her own words, “any color you can find in the sea.” She likes ravens and crows.
Christopher Schenk was born in Wisconsin but grew up right outside of Cleveland, Ohio. One of his favorite childhood memories is going on a rare family trip to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he watched gymnastics, volleyball and fencing competitions. During this trip, Schenk and his family added a brick with their name on it to the Centennial Park pavers. In junior high and high school, cross country became a central part of Schenk’s life — he fondly remembers running as a part of his school’s enormous team. Schenk says he always wanted to be a teacher. He earned an undergraduate degree in English and a master’s in Liberal Studies (a self-designed major consisting of both religious studies and literature). Today, Schenk enjoys running through Golden Gate Park and discovering its wide array of animals—ranging from butterflies to bison—and gorgeous scenery. Still a newcomer in San Francisco, he enjoys exploring the city and walking to places he hasn’t yet been to. Schenk spent last summer in England completing two courses on the philosophy of literature. Schenk says he was attracted to Lick for its unique and vibrant community as well as its “evident commitment to social justice and social concerns.” At Lick, Schenk appreciates that he doesn’t “feel like I have to be enforcing rules; I’m more of a teacher and a guide and a coach and that’s awesome.” His favorite color changes based on his mood and his favorite animals include giraffes, turtles, and squirrels.
Jennifer Selvin was born in Berkeley, California, and moved to San Francisco at three months of age. Selvin loves San Francisco and has lived in the city her whole life, except for her college years. Her passion for English and reading began at a young age and she earned her undergraduate degree in literature and teaching. Selvin recalls one of her favorite childhood memories: when she first discovered reading, which she deemed an “extremely joyous moment.” She particularly enjoyed reading classics such as Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Today, reading is still one of her favorite hobbies, in addition to spending time with her family and being an advocate for social justice. Prior to Lick, she taught at various public high schools in the Bay Area; she remembers being attracted to Lick due to “the willingness of students to be engaged and think.” Over her years teaching at Lick, and through her son’s experience as an L-W student, Selvin has developed a deep appreciation for the Lick community. Her favorite color is steel blue and she highly recommends Naomi Alderman’s new book, The Power.
Suzanne Shimek was born in Frankfurt, Germany (Frankfurt, West Germany, at that time). Due to her father’s military position, Shimek’s family moved all around the world, living again in Germany for some time. Some of her favorite childhood memories include learning to ski with her father and working her way through her first series of books in third grade. She found a home in Northern California when her family moved to Monterey for her final high school years; her undergraduate degrees are a BS in energy engineering and an AB in English. After college she headed to Berlin to study for a year and then moved to San Francisco for six years, where she worked as a journalist and science writer. Compelled by a desire to study poetry again, she headed south to Los Angeles where she earned her doctorate in English, writing her dissertation on the intersection of poetry and quantum theory. She spent 16 years living, teaching, and feuding with mountain bikers in LA before dragging her family back north to San Francisco. Shimek thrives on moving, being outdoors, and “having my feet on dirt”— hiking, canoeing, and biking—and therefore loves San Francisco’s access to the outdoors. She also loves to read and play the banjo. Shimek was drawn to Lick’s unique mission and emphasis on diversity and public service, viewing it as the “least private of the private schools.” Favorite books include The Echo Maker by Richard Powers and The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. She likes the color blue, has a dog obsession, and finds elephants and foxes interesting.
Robin von Breton was born in Los Angeles. She went to a small progressive high school in Northern Arizona that offered experiential learning and great academics, including anthropology. Students maintained the campus (she worked on trash and dishwasher crew, and building buildings). They took field trips to work and study in Mexico and on the Navajo and Hopi Nations. She headed East to college. After her freshman year, while hitch hiking around England and Ireland, she decided to take a gap year. She ended up returning to California to write exhibitions for a design office. Her undergraduate degree is in American History and Literature. In college she wrote poetry, short stories, and for the newspaper and by accident became a photographer. After earning a Master in Teaching in Visual Studies she worked her way around the world as a journalist. Back in the U.S., she co-founded a political weekly newspaper in New Orleans. Later she freelanced, worked in politics, and became a teacher, working in both a private and public school. Her two sons were born in New Orleans. She loves, “TEACHING English! Exploring. Thinking! Telling the stories of the world and being challenged by others (students!) to see better.” After New Orleans, she returned to Northern Arizona to teach and then moved to Northern California to work at Lick-Wilmerding. She was excited by L-W’s values and mission. She says, LWHS is “one of the best parts of my education.” She loves to hike and backpack and loves snow. Her favorite color? Shades of turquoise and also of orange. No favorite animal (although she says she’s learned a lot from cats). “All mammals have a lot in common. Humans are just mammals.” So many books! Poetry of Louise Clifton, Elizabeth Bishop, “Crash” by Elizabeth Alexander. Frequent rereads: Gabriel-Marquez’s A Hundred Years of Solitude, essays by Barry Lopez. Always reading.
Wrap up on the English Department:
What do they do: they teach communication skills. They teach listening and wondering skills. They teach critical and imaginative thinking. They empower students to find their own voice amidst the chatter of the world around them.
Teaching the language of a culture is to sort through the hearts of the people who speak it, to explore the varieties of stories and styles of storytelling. Each voice is a map of the speaker’s values.
