Lise Concolato

Geometry and Precalculus teacher Quinn Basewitz guides her students through the rules of a review game. Basewitz, in her first year of teaching at Palo Alto High School, said she is enjoying her time teaching and coaching field hockey at Paly. “It’s [Paly] been really welcoming, and it’s a collaborative department, so I’ve had a lot of support,” Basewitz said. “I really enjoy getting to know students in class, and then I’m also coaching field hockey, so it’s been fun to get to know students outside of the classroom.”

Palo Alto High School welcomes four new teachers this school year, each bringing their own approaches and perspectives to the community. 

According to Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson, he wants new teachers to take advantage of how well-equipped Paly is.

“I would like them [the new teachers] to enjoy the fact that they’re at a highly resourced school with some absolutely incredible students who will amaze you at their efforts and production,” Berkson said.

Berkson said he was impressed by what the new teachers bring from their credential programs.

“We have a lot of teachers who are new to the profession, or relatively new to the profession,” Berkson said. “Observing them, seeing what they’re teaching you, … is pretty cool stuff. The use of technology is pretty cool, and the enthusiasm of the new teachers is pretty cool.”

These are the four new teachers Paly has hired this semester:

Bekki Casalco:

Bekki Casalco teaches AP English Language and Composition and English 9A. She studied at San Jose State University and previously taught freshman English and English Language Development at East Side Union High School.

Casalco said she wants to break down big concepts into ideas that anyone can understand and help students become strong learners and citizens. 

“Teaching is about breaking apart big concepts and making them in a way that anyone can understand,” Casalco said. “I want to teach them [her students] to have the agency to be strong students, citizens, people who not only care about your education but care about everybody else.”

Casalco said breaking down big concepts and making them easier to understand is what teaching means to her.

“I want them [Casalco’s students] to be strong people,” Casalco said. “Not just, ‘I’m learning English,’ but to understand that everything they learn in school is a tool, a skill they can take into their career and personal life.” 

Junior Elif Dogan, one of Casalco’s students, said she enjoys the energy Casalco brings to class each day.

“She has a really enthusiastic personality,” Dogan said. “It’s really nice being in her classroom and having a teacher who is showing that she’s happy to be there.”

Quinn Basewitz:

Quinn Basewitz teaches Geometry and Precalculus and also coaches the JV girls field hockey team. Before coming to Paly, she studied and played sports at Swarthmore College and taught math at Rohrer Middle School in New Jersey.

Basewitz said her favorite part of teaching is showing students that math is more than procedures — it’s about reasoning, patterns, applications and problem-solving.

“I love really designing tasks where students have an opportunity to explore and collaborate — to think about math together,” Basewitz said. “Rather than just doing lots of really similar problems, they should make connections themselves, rather than memorizing steps.”

According to Basewitz, her main objective is for her students to have faith in themselves when solving challenging problems.

“My main goal is to have students have a lot of confidence in tackling difficult problems, even if they don’t know how to find an answer right away,” Basewitz said. “Whether there’s a difficult math problem or something in another part of their life, knowing that they have the tools … [to] really justify their reasoning. I really want them to believe in themselves as capable learners.”

According to Dogan, who is also in a class Basewitz teaches, Basewitz stands out as a teacher who genuinely cares about her students’ learning.

“I love Ms. Quinn,” Dogan said. “You can tell she wants you to understand the math and she makes sure you’re happy, like making sure that you understand. She also takes her time when students ask her questions and I think that’s a good characteristic about her.”

Sebastian Castañeda:

Sebastian Castañeda teaches U.S. Government at Paly and Ethnic Studies at Gunn High School. After studying at UC Santa Barbara and San Jose State, Sebastian Castañeda worked as a long-term substitute for Stephen Foug last year, teaching Contemporary World History and U.S. Government, along with U.S. History.

According to Castañeda, what drew him to teaching history is the way students learn to handle information, not just the facts.

“History is more than just memorizing and repeating historical facts,” Castañeda said. “It’s about how you interact with what you’re learning about the past and with society, with the government, with yourself.”

Castañeda said he wants to teach his students to manage all the information they are faced with in the real world.

“The main thing I’m hoping for students to get out of this class is an ability to navigate the plethora of information and news that they’re probably receiving,” Castañeda said. “I’m hoping that through teaching history, we [the history teachers] can work with the students and develop a language to be able to navigate that new scape.”

Sophomore Ela Aba said she thinks Castañeda is a great teacher.

“I think he gets the point across very clearly,” Aba said. “He’s really compassionate and nice to be in a classroom with. His teaching style is very straightforward.”

Michael Veizades:

Michael Veizades co-teaches Concert Band, Symphonic Band and String Orchestra with Katie Gilchrist. He also teaches Jazz Band. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from San José State University before completing his student teaching at Monta Vista High School.

Veizades said he started getting serious about music in high school, but his interest in the subject started much earlier.

“Music has been a passion of mine since I was very young,” Veizades said. “I realized I wanted something a little more stable than being a performer. That pushed me towards education, and I realized that I really enjoy education and working with people one-on-one.”

According to Veizades, he believes music should serve as a catalyst for students to learn about the world.

“I hope to teach them music skills first, but I also think about teaching them how to be a part of the world, how to grow, how to deal with change and how to become adults,” Veizades said.

Junior Victor Chen, one of Veizades’ students, said he enjoys the changes Veizades has brought to the band.

“I like how he is very engaging and brings a different energy to band than before,” Chen said. “He chooses songs that are more modern, and while I appreciate the old school style of band music, I really enjoy playing the more modern arrangements by younger composers.”