Catalina Lemos had big shoes to fill in the just-completed school year as she took over for the recently-retired Juan Robledo, who had been San Benito High School’s activities director for years.
Lemos, a 1990 graduate of San Benito High School, started teaching in 1996 after getting her bilingual teaching credential from Chico State. In 2002 she earned her master’s degree in Spanish from California State University, Sacramento.
Entering her 15th year of teaching, Lemos had the chance to become the next activities director after Robledo retired last year after 29 years at the school. There were two rounds of interviews that included a large group of colleagues, the community, and students. The second round of interviews was more specific.
When asked why she wanted the job, Lemos said, “I wanted to try something different, but still work as a teacher.”
Lemos says that running the Associated Student Body is similar to teaching a class. Lemos was happily surprised when she found out she had been chosen for the job. She said she expected the job of activities director to be very involved and require a lot of time. She previously served as advisor for the All for Christ Club at SBHS. Previous club members, Gavilan college freshmen Aaron Ramirez and Breana Luevano, agreed that Lemos deserved to be activities director because of her hard work and dedication to the students at the school. Even with her new title, Lemos still helps out with AFC’s events.
ASB President Jose Mariscal, said, “ASB is more involved this year and we are working more together.”
Lemos said she was mainly concerned this year with maintaining the quality that ASB has shown though the years.
“Although it’s challenging, I’m learning as a person,” she said.