For a few Portola High School teachers, Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) is more than just their workplace — it is also where they grew up as students before returning to teach in the same community.
Special education department chair Melody Resendez grew up in Irvine and attended Irvine High School. There, she was a part of the music program, where she sang and acted. As caretaker for both of her parents, music became an outlet that helped her through difficult times and allowed her to express herself, according to Resendez. The sense of belonging she felt as a student later influenced her decision to return to IUSD.
“I came back to Irvine because I always felt safe being in Irvine as a student,” Resendez said. “I liked what the district stood for when it came to making sure that all students felt included, that they all had voices, that they were heard.”
Instrumental music director Desmond Stevens grew up in Irvine and attended Northwood High School. There, he played volleyball and soccer and was a member of band, marching band and orchestra. After graduating from UCLA, Stevens did not originally plan to return to IUSD to teach. However, when Portola High was first being planned, Stevens’ high school music teacher encouraged him to apply for the position of Portola High’s instrumental music department chair, and he took the opportunity.
“The idea of being able to build a program from scratch and help design what music and arts at Portola could be seemed like a really cool next step,” Stevens said. “It wasn’t intentional in any way originally, to come back to Irvine, but the leadership opportunity it presented, and the scale of music that we can do at an Irvine school is really incredible.”
Resendez and Stevens’ passions for music led them to co-found Portola High’s United Sound, a student-run program dedicated to fostering inclusivity in music and helping special education students grow as musicians.
“Ms. Resendez and I, knowing each other and knowing that she really loves music and was involved heavily in music in high school, and then me, at my previous job, having lots of experience with special education students, wanted to see more of that for our student population,” Stevens said.
English teacher Doris Schlothan also attended Northwood High and was involved in the debate team, mock trial and choir. After graduating from college, she moved to New York for eight years. While she was teaching in New York, Schlothan realized the importance of relating to her students — a realization that ultimately pulled her back to Irvine.
“There’s something really powerful about being able to relate to your students, and have your students really relate to you,” Schlothan said. “When you are able to understand your students, you have this deeper level of empathy for them in terms of their struggles and their stresses.”
Looking back on how IUSD has changed over the years, Schlothan appreciates the growing emphasis on student mental health and how IUSD is recognizing that students deserve to follow their passions and explore a variety of interests. For Resendez and Stevens, they both appreciate the growing diversity in students and expanded educational, athletic and performing arts opportunities.
“That’s been super cool, seeing the diversity of educational experiences [become] more reflective of our student population,” Stevens said. “Even athletics has changed. When I was in high school, there was one lacrosse team for the entire city. But now there’s boys and girls lacrosse. And there’s other sports that have seen similar growth, because there’s just more diversity happening here.”
