Originally published in the Nov. 16 edition of the Octagon.

Inside Diego Panasiti’s classroom, students are exploring culture through music and language. Panasiti immigrated from Argentina as a child and uses his experiences as a new Spanish II and English 10 teacher. “The backbone of my identity as an educator…

When AP U.S. History students enter a brightly lit classroom, they find a smiling Chelsie Beck in the center of the room ready to greet them individually as they take their seats. Junior Karabelo Bowsky is enjoying the class.  “She…

Over the past 13 years, high school students have gotten used to a few mainstays of the physics room: the bulky laptops from another era, the dusty “Conceptual Physics” textbooks and the reserved physics teacher, Glenn Mangold.  However, Mangold will…

After more than a decade of teaching at Country Day, history teacher and college counselor Chris Kuipers is ready to move on to the next phase of his life in the Pacific Northwest. Alicia Perla will be taking over as…

Middle school science teacher Kelly Bornmann is leaving Country Day — transitioning from teaching students to teaching teachers. Bornmann joined Country Day in 2018 and teaches sixth grade science, is a sixth grade advisor, runs a study hall elective and…

Director of Pre-K Mitzi Mapa-Contes moved to Sacramento in 2018 and stepped onto Country Day’s campus tasked with re-imaging the Pre-K curriculum. Nearly three years later, Mapa-Contes plans to return to Singapore to teach at United World College of South…

Nine teachers have departed the Country Day community for a variety of reasons following the 2020-21 school year. They are: – Kelly Bornmann (sixth grade science) – Alexis Covey (second grade) – Bill Crabb (high school history) – Shelley Hinson…

Although he only intended to spend four years at Country Day, band director Bob Ratcliff is leaving the school after 21 years. Ratcliff, who is largely responsible for building Country Day’s music program, is returning to Boise, Idaho, to spend…