Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Kim Anzalone, who teaches at Saratoga High School and also spent a number of years at Los Gatos High School, has been named the district's teacher of the year.

District's teacher of year favors creative approach

By Shari Kaplan

Through perseverance, personality and propitious circumstances, Saratoga High School advanced-placement U.S. history teacher Kim Anzalone got her first job in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District 14 years ago.

In 1983, a family friend and former Los Gatos High School teacher told the newly credentialed Anzalone there was a teaching opening at LGHS; he also dropped her name to principal Ted Simonson. Anzalone followed up by calling Simonson almost every day that summer. A month after school started, she was interviewed and came on board.

Fourteen years later, with the same qualities still intact, the San Jose resident was named the district's "Teacher of the Year." She was recognized at the Sept. 3 district board meeting and was honored along with 25 other Santa Clara County educators on Sept. 30 at the 27th annual Teacher Recognition Day in Mountain View.

Anzalone says she has always been a "right-brained," creative person who was drawn to history and English. Watching historical movies with her propensity for living vicariously through the characters further encouraged her interest in lives and times of the past.

Although she says she always thought about becoming a teacher, it was Laura Linley, her junior-year U.S. history teacher at San Jose's Blackford High School, who inspired Anzalone the most.

"She really made us think. She had an incredible amount of enthusiasm. And she was working on her master's degree at the same time," Anzalone recalls. "She related well to her students; she was young at heart and had such a love for history. You could tell she loved what she did and just put herself into it."

Anzalone herself holds a master's degree in history and a teaching credential in social studies, both earned from San Jose State University. Her bachelor's degree at Stanislaus State University in political science also serves her well, as history is filled with politics.

History is not Anzalone's only forte, however; she was a "jill of all trades" during her nine years at Los Gatos High School. Along with teaching U.S. history, world history and contemporary world issues, she spent time as a P.E. instructor, badminton coach, spirit squad adviser and adviser to the Model United Nations.

She has followed suit during her five years at Saratoga High School, teaching U.S. history and, previously, world history. She advises Saratoga's branches of Mock Trial, Amnesty International and the National Honor Society, and has found time to serve on the school site council and staff development committee.

"I'm what you'd call a committee person. I feel like if I'm going to complain, I'd better be ready to do something about it," she says.

She has no complaints about her job, though, explaining that a number of factors make teaching immensely rewarding. Among them are interacting with people, sharing her knowledge with others and the daily surprises of a classroom setting.

"There's a new challenge every day. I've got all these different chemistries and moods coming at me, and every day is different. I really feel like I get so much from these kids--probably more than they realize," she says with a smile, looking at an expansive bulletin board covered end-to-end with photos and mementos given to her by former and current students.

Among her favorite teaching tools is what she calls "hands-on history," in which students dress up and participate in role-playing projects to get a feel for the people or events they are studying. For example, students have re-written the U.S. Constitution at a "Constitutional Convention," tried Woodrow Wilson for his involvement in World War I and recreated the Nuremberg Trials following World War II.

"It's a crack-up what the kids come up with: cottonball wigs and bottlecap medals!" she says in reference to the 18th-century colonial "powdered wig" politicians and the military figures of the 20th century.

Anzalone not only wants to make learning fun, but wants to show students that just as she is human and makes mistakes, the same holds true for people revered in history.

"When we think about guys like Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson, we look back on them as demi-gods who could do no wrong. But people are people; the study of history is just the study of human beings who do good things and do bad things," she explains.

Outside of her many school-related activities, Anzalone names child-rearing as one of her favorite "hobbies." She and husband Russell have two children: 4-year-old Kaitlin and 2-year-old Keegan. She enjoys singing--in the shower and with small local bands--as well as needlework, jazz dance, cycling and skiing. She also says she "voraciously" reads all genres of books, with a preference for historical mystery novels.

It's no mystery to Saratoga High principal Kevin Skelly why Anzalone's colleagues nominated her to represent the district as Teacher of the Year.

"Kim's one of those great teachers who combines a love of students with a love of her subject. She's a good lecturer, and she's thoughtful and creative in the materials she uses," Skelly says, adding that Anzalone serves as an effective mentor for younger or newer teachers in the department.