Since late August, Andrew Yoshida has been Amador’s newest addition as the long-term substitute teacher for Economics and US History teacher Jill Batillega.
From the Start
“Teaching has always been my dream. It’s been a dream since I was a second grader at Hearst. When I was at Foothill, it was my social studies teacher that determined that I really want to be a history teacher,” said Yoshida.
More specifically, one Foothill teacher had a large impact on Yoshida and fueled his passion to become a teacher.
“Most all my teachers were fabulous, and especially my social studies teacher, Mr. Clark. He always made history fun. One of my goals as a teacher has always been to be like Mr. Clark. Always, hopefully, I make class fun,” said Yoshida.
Before teaching at Amador, Yoshida student-taught in Oakland and other schools around the Peninsula for two years.
“I’m more familiar with this area. I can make references to the [Meadowlark] Dairy. And everyone knows what the Dairy is, supposed to when I was over in Redwood City,” shared Yoshida.
Despite being such a young teacher, Yoshida collects posters and antiques from before his generation. These collections range from anti-Vietnam War posters, World War One posters, and even sentimental drawings from his previous students.
“I have a lot of stuff I’ve collected over the years. A lot of the stuff I have mostly in here is my counterculture stuff, so anti-Vietnam War, especially posters, [and] papers. I bring [them] in because, for me, it’s more relevant to look at, like, a poster from World War One in person, as opposed to, like, looking at a picture,” said Yoshida.
Record Player
Another different aspect of Yoshida’s classroom is his record player. His collection of 50-80’s rock music gives his room a distinctive feature that keeps his classroom unique.
“The record player especially has been an important part of my classroom since I first started teaching because my record player, I feel, is a big part of who I am. It’s important that you show your personality as a teacher because it’s better than, ‘he’s my teacher, and that’s all I know about him,’” said Yoshida.
Amador’s newest teacher has faced some new challenges, but nothing he feels unprepared for.
“I think what shocked me most [about] being a teacher is finally realizing all the things my teachers had to deal with. Sometimes, my teachers would have their heads down, just upset. I’d ask, ‘Oh, you got a parent email?’ and they’d say, ‘Yeah.’ And now I’m realizing why,” said Yoshida.
Although Yoshida is only here for the remainder of the year, he says he would love to continue teaching Economics and U.S. History in the district.“It’s a job for me, but it’s also something I love doing. And I can say every morning, I wake up, I’m excited to go to school, and I always leave happy,” said Yoshida.
