With the constant bustle of busy students and staff on campus, TPHS operates with the complexity of an active ecosystem. Sporting a charming Jellycat croissant keychain on the teacher lanyard around her neck, Charlene Nguyen steps into the school’s environment for the first time this year.

Nguyen teaches Biology, Chemistry and Standard English Immersion (SEI) Chemistry at TPHS. She graduated from the University Southern California with a major in biology and has a teaching credential in both biology and chemistry.

“I started my career in [Los Angeles] (LA),” Nguyen said, “I taught [Animo Leadership Charter High School] for five years, and then I taught at Arcadia high school for two years.”

Now in her eighth year of being an educator, Nguyen recalls her college days when she first realized she wanted to pursue teaching. She was part of the USC Joint Educational Project, a service learning program.

Nguyen believes she grew up “lucky to have [had] a pretty good K through 12 education.” Seeing the disparity between her own educational upbringing and that of the students at Joint Educational Project ignited her passion to “share that same access [to education].”

“When I volunteered with USC Joint Educational Project, I went to public schools in [Los Angeles Unified School District] (LAUSD) and saw that there were students who were below grade level in English and in Math,” Nguyen said. “That motivated me to pursue [teaching] because I wanted to give all students an equitable educational experience and allow them the opportunity to be successful.”

Driven by her goal to give students the “light bulb moment,” Nguyen approaches her job with creativity and excitement. Specifically, Nguyen crafts a curriculum that bends to the learning styles of a diverse set of students.

“I really like to target multiple modalities of learning, because I feel that all students learn differently, and I really like to incorporate dynamic lessons so we’re not doing the same thing every day,” Nguyen said.

Some of the ways Nguyen does this include lecture guided notes, whiteboard practice, which allows her to “check for understanding pretty early,” and gamified learning methods, such as Gimkit.

“I do different labs [and] different activities,” Nguyen said. “For example, we did a board game for ecological succession.”

In the midst of a new school environment, Nguyen maintains a flexible mindset, hoping to find her own niche and thrive within the TPHS ecosystem.

“I’m like a sponge right now: I’m absorbing a lot,” Nguyen said. “I’m kind of just feeling it out, [seeing] what the students are [like], getting into the groove of things, and then also finding a teaching style that works with this community.”

So far, Nguyen observes that the school has large class sizes, which is “an adjustment” for her, a supportive staff, a “very strong school spirit” and, annoyingly, a lot of ants.

Though her room is currently rather bare, Nguyen envisions walls filled with student work. As for the classroom environment, Nguyen hopes to foster a supportive, collaborative and fun space that maintains safety above all else.

“I have a lot of empathy for students, but I maintain high expectations,” Nguyen said. “I really want students to become successful in the future.”

Nguyen is grateful to the school’s science department for helping her settle in.

“The entire science department has been very supportive for me,” Nguyen said. “Shout out to all of them, because they were very collaborative right when I got here, and they just want me to feel supported and not feel so isolated.”

In her spare time, Nguyen enjoys crafting, ceramics, hiking and exploring San Diego. She describes herself as a “foodie” and collector of  “little trinkets” — cue, the Jellycat croissant.

“My favorite [part] about exploring San Diego is getting to be near the coast and water with mountains and valleys nearby — [it] has a little bit of everything,” Nguyen said.

But, above all, Nguyen’s love for science is what inspires her to teach, passing down her knowledge and expertise to the next generation.

“I really enjoy figuring things out in science, so I also enjoy really understanding science,” Nguyen said. “So whenever students understand [a concept] based on my instruction or based on my gamified learning, I feel a sense of fulfillment.”