Rizal Adanza
Current Position: Web Editor
Department: Communications Faculty
Born in San Francisco and raised in Daly City, Rizal Adanza’s favorite thing about the Bay Area is the food. Adanza went to college for web design and has been designing web pages for education-related organizations ever since. Moving to Lick as a next step “just made sense.” Just prior to landing his current job, Adanza worked for Youth Speaks, a San Francisco based arts organization that encourages youth to express their voices through the intersection of socialjustice and spoken word poetry (you may remember their performance at last year’s Walk With A Purpose). Adanza says “I’m here to support [students] in any way I can.” His role model is his partner because she is passionate, has a sense of humor, and “challenges everything in life.” If given the choice to pursue adifferent line of work, Adanza would teach theater. He is interested in getting involved with the Lick theater program.When asked what he wants to be known for, Adanza replies “for my artistic accolades, be it writing, directing, acting, whatever I choose to be.”
Lizzy Brooks
Current Position: Computing and D&T Teacher
Department: Technical Arts Faculty
Lizzy Brooks is an artist from Baltimore, Maryland who uses computers to make interactive art installations. She says that something she likes about San Francisco is “[its] proximity to the so ware industry. [San Francisco] is a great place to work on technology.” Brooks was originally “totally into the humanities” and was a history major in college, but “as an artist, I began to want to make my own machines.” Before coming to Lick, Brooks taught coding to adults, lm and photography to high school students, and made a few music videos. Brook is “always trying to do projects that use technology to explore real world issues,” so the “Private School, Public Purpose” mission statement of Lick really resonated with her. She’s very excited by the idea of teaching technology as an art, incorporating “technical skills but using creativity.” Brooks wants students to know that she is always learning, and she is always open to meet with students if they find something inspiring that they want to show her. One of her role models is Daniel Shiffman, a coding teacher from whom Brooks has “learned a lot” through his open sourced so ware and online videos.Lizzy’s artist website is LizzyBrooks.com and she has an ongoing project in the Tenderloin on community networking. She is hoping for an exhibition next year.
Benjamin Cohn
Current Position: Center for Civic Engagement Associate
Department: Center for Civic Engagement Team
Benjamin Cohn is a Lick alumnus from the class of 2008. According to Cohn, Lick “played avery important role in who [he is] today” so the job opening in e Center was a “chance [he] couldn’t pass up.” Prior to this, Cohn worked as an administrator at Or Shalom Jewish Community Center on Brotherhood Way. Last November he started doing a lot of organizing with his community at Or Shalom, as he is very interested in social justice. Cohn says that he “really just wants to support [students] and help develop the skills [they] want.” He looks up to Christy, who has been here since he was a student, and says that “the work that Christy, Marley, and Alan have done is amazing.” Cohn wants to be known as “a positive force” at Lick. One of his favorite quotes is “Everyone wants to eat, but not everyone wants to cook,” a reminder, for him (and others), to put in the work yourself and not just enjoy the results. In addition, Cohn literally likes to cook. He’d love it if you check out the Center and introduce yourself to him.
Alessandra Dvorak
Current Position: Spanish Teacher
Department: World Languages
Alessandra Dvorak is a quadrilingual San Francisco local and Waldorf High School alumnus. Her role model is her mother, who raised her on her own, and taught her English, Spanish, German, and Portuguese along the way. Her mother was born in Germany to Czech and German parents, and grew up in Brazil. Dvorak says that her mother “sacrificed for my education” and “believed in the value of a rm foundation.” Dvorak went to independent schools through high school, but transitioned to public education in college, attending UC Berkeley and UC Davis. Part of the reason that Dvorak wanted to work at Lick is that she saw similarities with her former schools, in both its values and mindset. She says, “my role as an educator is to prepare students for public institutions.” In addition, when asked what she wants to tell her students, she replied, “that I’m on their team, I’m here to support them.” Dvorak emphasizes that “it’s not all about the grade, it’s about the process of learning,” Dvorak strongly believes in treating others the way she wants to be treated, and as they want to be treated. She wants to be known for noticing what students love and helping support that. She strives to see students “not as a mass but as individuals, all special.”
Amy Dean
Current Position: Part Time Biology Teacher
Department: Science Department Faculty
Amy Dean is an environmental scientist and educator from Maryland. She is filling in for Gillian Ashenfelter during Ashenfelter’s sabbatical. Before coming to Lick, Dean had been an environmental science professor at a small college in Marin and had also worked at the Greater Farallones Marine Sanctuary. She has “loved the ocean and everything in the ocean” since she was a kid. During the time that Dean worked at the Greater Farallones she worked with many schools, but Lick students (and especially Ashenfelter) were always her favorite. As a result, she was “excited to come and help out” while Ashenfelter is on leave. High school students are her favorite to work with because “[they] want to be challenged, [they’re] curious, and very fun.” She wants to teach students how biology is relevant to them, whether it be understanding how your body works or thinking about careers. Dean’s role model is is Sylvia Earle. “She is such a role model for every girl who dreams of becoming a marine biologist.” Dean also looks up to Neil deGrasse Tyson for his “ability to get anyone excited about the universe” through the way that he communicates. Eventually, Dean wants to be known for being able to get anyone excited about science.
Danielle Farinacci
Current Position: Librarian
Department: Library
Danielle Farinacci hails from Los Angeles, California but over the course of her life, she has lived all around the state. Before coming to Lick, she spent nine years as the librarian at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory School in San Francisco. Farinacci became a librarian because it combined two of her passions: helping people and research. When asked what appealed to her about Lick, Farinacci exclaimed, “I loved all the different types of arts… I thought it would be a unique community to be a part of.” In addition, she knew that she would be inheriting a great existing library program from Lissa Crider, our wonderful librarian who retired last year. Something that Farinacci wants students to know is “that they can ask me for anything.” Farinacci is a big environmentalist and cyclist, so she’d be happy to talk to students about either of these things. She hopes to teach students how to discern reliable versus weak information, and says that if one thing about the library could be improved, it would be to better section o spaces for collaboration and quiet work (although part of the problem is a general lack of space due to the ongoing construction). Furthermore, she’d love the introduction of more greenery into the library space, and suggested that a student-led planting project could be held to enhance the environment. Farinacci’s role model is Michelle Obama, because “she never let’s anything get to her,” and feels that this is demonstrated by her comment “When they go low, we go high.”
Kathleen Fazio
Current Position: Food Service Director
Department: Cafeteria
Another San Francisco native, Kathleen Fazio has been doing food preparation-related work for 35 year. She has a Cordon Bleu Culinary Degree and comes from an Italian background where “everybody cooks.” When asked what led her into this career, she replied, “every time there was a party [with family] I cooked and finally somebody told me ‘you should do this for a living.’” Fazio was attracted by the “challenge” of Lick’s scale, and she had already known Lick from the donations Lick gave to her previous school. Fazio wants students to know that she is “completely approachable, always.” She wants people to share recipes and menu requests with her. Also, Fazio is a self-proclaimed “quality monster” who never drinks bad coffee or eats bad chocolate. Her role model is her mother, who “could make dinner out of nothing.” Additionally, she looks up to the rest of her family as “culinary role models.” Fazio wants to be known for raising a wonderful daughter, and says “if you can put a good kid into the world, you’ve probably accomplished something.”
Alice Grimm
Current Position: Math Teacher
Department: Math Department Faculty
Alice Grimm is an experienced math teacher. Originally from Massachusetts, she has gone to school in New Hampshire through high school, college in Pennsylvania, and graduate school in Berkeley, where she majored in mathematics. During her time in school, she realized that she enjoyed her time in the classroom more than doing research, so she decided to pursue teaching. Before coming to Lick, Grimm was a math teacher at Deerfield Academy, a private boarding school on the East Coast. She was drawn to Lick partly because of its dedication to being a “private school with public engagement” and wanted to be a part of its unique community. Grimm liked that “teachers were committed to their own growth” and the “concrete, brutalist architecture” of the building. She also likes San Francisco, because compared to where she’s lived in the past, “there are a lot more gay people” and it’s “a queer location.” She also enjoys the accessible transportation and the good food/produce. However, she misses the snow of back home, and the “cocooning” of the clouds and snow during winter. She wants students to learn “how to use their mistakes for growth” and also wants them to know that she cares “very deeply about them as human beings. Her role model is Audre Lorde because “she is a beautiful public speaker,” and particularly likes her comment, “Your silence will not protect you. I’m doing my part, are you doing yours?”
Avery Pickford
Current Position: Math Teacher
Department: Math Department Faculty
Born in rural Ohio, Avery Pickford is another seasoned math teacher who is very familiar with independent schools. He recently taught 5/6th grade math at e Nueva School. Pickford is excited not only to teach students, but also to learn from them. Pickford is excited to teach at Lick because of its commitment to social justice and its level of diversity seldom found in other schools. He is excited to teach at the high school level and wants to integrate Lick’s tech arts program into his math lessons. He says to students “regardless of where you are at [math], expand [your] view of what it means to be good at math.” As a math student, Pickford felt that learning math was very procedural, nothing more than the teacher telling him what to do. is inspired Pickford to teach math. Pickford thought to himself “I could do this better.” He wants to be known for being approachable and someone who loves his job, loves work, and loves math. His role model is his dad. He remembers a particular moment in high school when he was thinking a lot about college and his future work. He asked his father about the income level of those who held different jobs, who responded: “If your goal is to make a lot of money you can probably do that. But you should probably think about if that is what you want to do, if that is important.” Pickford wants students to know that he loves doing math for fun (but that it’s not all he does), and is a Giants fan.
Réne Villicaña
Current Position: History Teacher
Department: History Department Faculty
Réne Villicaña is returning to Lick a er taking a short break. He taught history at Lick from 2004 to 2011, and then at Menlo School for 5.5 years. Villicaña grew up in Santa Rosa. He went to a large public high school where teachers told him to study what he loved, so he decided to major in history. Villicaña says, “I wanted to study something that would teach me about the past and teach me about the world I live in.” He went to UC Berkeley for undergraduate studies and New York University for graduate school, before heading back home in 2004. Villicaña has been teaching for 18 years. He taught at both Washington Irving, a large public high school, and Trevor Day School, a small independent school in New York, before coming to Lick. Before Trevor Day School, he “didn’t know about private schools,” so everything was new. At Lick, he loved the location and the shops program, and remembers a “relaxed, cool vibe among students.” Villicaña had noticed that “when kids needed to be on, [when they needed to be] academic, they could do it.” He also enjoyed the “visible diversity” of Lick, saying that “there seems to be a place for everyone.” Right now, he wants students to know that although he is somewhat familiar with the school, he wants to look at things with the “eyes of a rookie.” Villicaña says, “I love ideas, I love geeking out” and whenever a student needs an adult to bounce ideas off of, he’s there to talk about anything.
Monica West
Current Position: Part Time English Teacher
Department: English Department Faculty
Monica West is also familiar with Lick, returning after spending two years writing a book at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and earning her Master of Fine Arts in fiction writing. West grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, which is a “completely different place” from the Bay Area. She misses the friendliness of the Midwest, but feels that the Bay Area is more diverse and has “a lot of stuff to do outside.” English was her favorite subject in school, so she’s “always loved English, always written, and always been a reader.” Originally, what appealed to West about Lick was its philosophy and “the ways it [challenged] students to think.” Coming back, she was drawn in by the familiar community and the opportunity to work with families she had worked with before. West says that she is “adjusting to only being here part time,” and also wants students to know that “the door is open.” She says that she hopes her students “become con dent with their voices as I teach them the building blocks of writing.” Her role model is her mom, who is really strong, always has a positive attitude, and “doesn’t let setbacks define her.” Finally, she wants students to know that “it’s possible to live your dreams,” and that “it’s never too late, don’t be limited by what you see now.”
all photos by Nick Harris
