Calistoga Junior/Senior High School

My name is Jacqueline Aviña Espinoza and I graduated from Calistoga Jr./Sr. High School in 2016. Following high school, I continued my education at Sacramento State. In May of 2020, I graduated with a BA in Child Development with a concentration in Social and Community Settings and a minor in Counseling. I am currently working as a Paraprofessional for the Special Education program at Calistoga Jr./Sr. High School and am in the process of applying to a graduate program. Mentoring is so valuable as it creates a strong support network for an individual. I have been challenged by my mentors in a way that has allowed me to grow academically, professionally, and personally. 

A very long time ago, I graduated with a BA in Philosophy. During my college years I worked in restaurant kitchens to pay my way through school. Afterwards, needing to make money and realizing that cooking was more interesting to me than continuing in university studies, I kept cooking. A few years later, I attended culinary school, got an associates degree and...continued to cook!
Eventually, I married and had a baby.
After our son began kindergarten at CES, I began an after school gardening program on the campus as a volunteer.  From then on I volunteered within the CJUSD district in a variety of ways: CHS art docent for 20 years;  CES cooking class teacher; CJSHS tutor in the AVID program;  CJUSD volunteer establishing a Calistoga Promise program for all students in the district; and a variety of other non-paid jobs that helped children. 
Through the mentorship program, I hope to continue to help students reach their personal, educational goals. 

Hi! My name is Anny, I graduated from Calistoga Junior/Senior High School in 2022. I am currently attending the University of California, Davis. I am a first-generation Pre-Med Student, majoring in Genetics and Genomics. I am interested in attending Medical School after I finish my Bachelor's Degree. During my recent High School years I was a part of CLARA, The Engineering Club, Interact, and S Club. Which were all very helpful and a fun experience. They allowed me to be more involved in School and learn about a variety of different things. 

​I find mentoring to be very important in High School and more as a College Student as mentors can help guide you and give you suggestions based on their knowledge, or they’ll direct you to someone that can help you. I hope to be able to help others grow as they move on to further their education.

Hello, my name is Karina Hernandez! I graduated from Calistoga Junior Senior High School in 2019. After High School I attended California State University, San Marcos. I graduated this spring semester in May with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice. My next step in my educational field is to pursue my Masters in Public Health for the following year. 

 During my undergraduate years, I was apart of the sorority, Alpha Pi Sigma, with a philanthropy that focused on giving back to the Latinx community. Within the three years that I was in this organization we held various fundraisers, with funds gathered we would buy necessities to donate to low-income families. I also interned for a program named “Project Rebound: Each One, Teach One,” where I worked with at promised youth at their continuation school. I’m super excited to work as a mentor again because I want to continue being a role mole to the youth. As well as being apart of motivating students to grow into what they always dreamt of becoming.

I am a first-generation college student who graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 2020. I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Criminal Justice and I am currently working on my Master of Business Administration. I work as the Analyst for ArroyoWest, a minority-owned management consulting firm where we focus on economic and workforce development projects. Previously, I worked as a Government Contract Specialist at CMG Alliance helping small businesses across California gain government contracts. I also volunteered with the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce as the Marketing Manager and Advisor for the Creating a Path to Success Program, a program for college-level students to gain personal and professional skills as they enter the workforce. Having had mentors throughout high school, college and now in my career, I cannot imagine where I would be without them. To this day my mentors continue to help me in my master's program, my career and personal growth. I am excited and look forward to being able to share my knowledge and help students be able to reach their educational and career goals.

 I grew up in Los Angeles and mostly enjoyed school. For college I wanted something different from LA and chose UC Santa Cruz, definitely not LA. In Santa Cruz I tried to have as many new experiences as possible including student government and lots of involvement in theater. College was a fabulous experience, in some ways the absolute best of my life. I think that college is where I finally grew up. After getting my BA I went to UCLA for graduate school in education then began a teaching career in South Central LA. Along the way I got married and my wife and I will be celebrating our 45th anniversary in September. Not one to stay stationary I went to Cal State Dominguez Hills to get a masters degree in educational administration and became a school principal. We had a couple of kids and decided to move on and I became Principal of Calistoga Elementary School. Thirteen years later I was asked to be the principal of Calistoga Junior/Senior High School. I really enjoyed dropping into all the different classes to see what was being taught and doing lunch supervision and talking with all the students. I also did a lot of college mentoring and my final two years as principal at CHS 60% of seniors were accepted at four year universities. I finished my career with a final two years of teaching and retired. I used the time well, hiking, biking, reading, and playing with technology. I am also very involved with the Rotary Club. Rotary is devoted to doing good in our community and the world. Through Rotary I was able to visit every continent except Antarctica. As a Rotarian I am involved in youth service and am an advisor for the Calistoga High School Interact Club. Now I am entering a new stage of life with my successful run for Calistoga City Council.

My name is Craig Garber.  I am California born and raised and attended high school in Lafayette, CA.  Following high school, I attended the University of Chicago and graduated with an AB degree in the Humanities.  I subsequently attended the University of California, Berkeley and obtained an MBA degree.

​In my career I served a wide range of financial roles within companies.  I have served as a Financial Analyst, Manager, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  Most of my career was spent working for technology companies, but I also was CFO for LifeMoves, a nonprofit serving the homeless population in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, for 5 years.

I have experience as a Mentor.  I worked with the AVID class at Los Altos HS for 4 years mentoring Seniors through the college application.  I also worked with a nonprofit called Mountain View Los Altos Scholars and mentored a young man through his time at San Jose State University.  The college experience is a rich one with many challenges and I am happy to provide some insight to young people facing those challenges.

I graduated from Calistoga Jr/Sr High School in 2019 and went on to attend the University of California, Riverside. I am currently finishing up my last quarter as an undergraduate student majoring in Political Science with a minor in Media & Cultural Studies. Throughout my time here at UC Riverside, I had the opportunity to intern at the County Counsel of Riverside where I worked alongside attorneys and helped digest a lot of incoming law for them and write briefs. I gained further experience and knowledge in regard to the legal field which was my goal as I plan to attend law school next Fall. Moreover, I am currently a virtual tutor for AVID students where I have the opportunity to help and assist students with their coursework through tutorials. It has been rewarding to give back to CJSHS and I look forward to continuing to do so through this mentor program. I strongly believe that having a mentor is key to success as it is vital to have someone who has first-handedly experienced everything that someone else is going through. Moving from NorCal to SoCal was a huge transition for me, from moving seven hours away from home to a place I’ve never been before and coming to a university all alone with no friends. I quickly learned the importance of having a mentor and someone there for you who can help and guide you through the various obstacles and confusion that comes along with attending higher education. I look forward to becoming that mentor that I wish I had and be able to I look forward to becoming that mentor that I wish I had and be able to guide them to a successful and smooth transition to their next step of higher education.