As a teacher, friendship with colleagues is a vital source of support, inspiration, and growth, whether bonding over passions or sharing lesson plans. Here’s a look at some of M-A’s closest teacher connections.
Jason Hunt & Liane Strub
Even after 11 years of teaching, English teacher Jason Hunt looks to his highly experienced colleagues for support. Specifically, he’s found a mentor and friend in English Department Chair Liane Strub.
Strub is not only a guiding light for her students but also a significant influence on the rest of the English department staff, as she sets a high bar for excellence in education.
Their connection began four years after Hunt became a teacher at M-A, when they both joined the AS English II team. Working together to develop the course, they dove into challenging collaboration. Hunt, however, was initially nervous to work with the well-known Strub. “She terrified me when I first met her, and I was like, ‘How am I ever going to know and work with you?’” Hunt said.
But, after many late nights filled with brainstorming, phone calls, and meetings at Strub’s house, what started as a professional necessity slowly transformed into a meaningful friendship. With a mix of respect and humor, they discussed lesson plans, exchanged ideas, and critiqued.
Since teachers are spread across campus and all have busy schedules, finding time to socialize with colleagues became a challenge for Hunt. He especially felt this weight when his friends in tech couldn’t comprehend why he wasn’t as close to his colleagues. “In many other professions, people work directly alongside their peers,” Hunt said.
Despite the distances between their classrooms, Hunt’s friendship with Strub became vital. Strub’s wisdom, leadership roles in the Sequoia District Teacher Association, and role as Department Chair has not helped Hunt navigate his own early years at M-A. “Even though this is my 11th year teaching, she set the expectation professionally of what an AS class looks like,” Hunt said.
Hunt and Strub have shared countless lunches, discussing everything from the latest novels to their mutual love for art. They’ve spent weekends exploring exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, where they found a shared love for art. Strub has not only changed Hunt’s professional experience at M-A, she’s also enriched his life with genuine connection in an often-isolating career.
Erin Walsh, Rachael Wan, & Kelsey Takahashi
The COVID-19 pandemic was a strenuous time for both students and teachers as they had to navigate school life without the in-person connections that make the job so fulfilling. English teacher Erin Walsh joined the M-A staff during this period of online school, making it difficult to create strong connections with students and staff.
However, when M-A began to return to in-person classes in 2021, Walsh took the opportunity to branch out and create friendships that have enhanced her personal and professional life.
Although Walsh has many close friends among the M-A staff, she hangs out most with Multicultural Literature and Voice and AVID teacher Rachael Wan and U.S. History teacher Kelsey Takahashi.
Walsh met Wan on Zoom during her first year of teaching, as they both taught MCLV. In the first year back in-person, Wan and Walsh began visiting each other’s classrooms, and with time, this evolved into hanging out outside of school. It turned into “a really wonderful friendship,” Walsh said.
Walsh also reached out to Takahashi by inviting her to dinner outside of school. “She looked cool and I wanted to spend time with her,” Walsh said.
For Walsh, collaborating with friends within the same department, like Wan, has been incredibly beneficial. The pair described moments where they felt like “work wives” because they spent so much time in each others’ classrooms. Whenever one of them felt frustrated or stressed, it was a relief to take a quick walk next-door to talk things over.
On the other hand, having a friend in another department allows for feedback on each others’ lesson plans and a new perspective on the curriculum. “‘It’s so nice to turn to someone and say, ‘Hey, here’s my idea for my English lesson. Can you look at it with a fresh set of eyes?’” Walsh said.
Not only have Walsh’s friendships benefited her professionally, but they’ve also allowed her to branch out to new groups of friends. After Wan and Walsh had been friends for quite a while, Wan introduced Walsh to her friends from graduate school. “They have gladly welcomed me into the group,” Walsh said.
Throughout her years at M-A, Walsh has created many memorable experiences with Wan and Takahashi, including attending concerts, traveling, camping, and simply grabbing coffee together. A memory that particularly resonated with Walsh was bringing Takahashi to her hometown. Walsh introduced Takahashi to her parents and spent time visiting the county fair. “I was excited to introduce her and tell my parents, ‘Here’s this person I talk about all the time, ’” Walsh said.
“You meet people at different stages of your life, and those friendships are meaningful for different reasons,” Walsh explained.
Her college friends, who witnessed her transition from 18 to 22, remain important, while her professional friendships have deepened into personal ones as well.
Tomiko Fronk & Kristen Bryan
Math teacher Tomiko Fronk walked onto M-A campus for the first time in 2014. Not only was this her first time teaching at M-A, but it was also her first full-time teaching position. She was assigned to teach pre-calculus, and without any prior experience teaching the subject, she reached out to fellow pre-calculus teacher Kristen Bryan. Little did Fronk know that asking Bryan for guidance would lead to a 10-year ongoing friendship.
As Fronk reflected on her first impressions of Bryan, she recalled being extremely intimidated. “I was terrified, just like every other student on their first day of school when they walked into her calculus class. I was too scared to ask her any questions,” Fronk said.
With Fronk being extremely young and only in her second year of teaching, she viewed Bryan as a mentor. With time, though, their relationship was able to evolve into a close friendship centered around more than their shared teaching position.
You might think Fronk and Bryan gush over the derivative of tangent lines and the end behavior of a function, but what really gets them excited is sharing a meal together. When asked if they bonded over a passion for math, Fronk replied with “Absolutely not. No. That is not our relationship at all.”
Having neighboring classrooms, Fronk and Bryan have made a variety of memories both inside and outside of school. One particularly special memory was their time spent in Ireland, which was a mere coincidence. Both Fronk and Bryan booked the trip during winter and decided to hang out for a day. “We went to Cork and met up,” Fronk said. “I got to see a little bit about where her husband grew up, which was a farm. We saw some cows, and then we just went out to dinner. Funny enough, we ate Japanese food that night,” Fronk said.
Bryan has drastically changed Fronk’s overall experience at M-A. “Generally with teaching, it can be really isolating since there are times where you go the entire day without talking to somebody your age. I love my students and I love talking to them, but sometimes not having interactions with coworkers can be a little bit lonely. It can make a difference on how happy you are at a school when you have people on campus to say hi to and have a quick chat with before class,” Fronk said.
