It’s an exciting new year for Lincoln high school, and with it come excited new teachers! This week, Lion Tales will be looking at 4 new faculty members: Ms. Amaros, Mr. Lynskey, Ms. Neely, Ms. Montgomery and Mr. Rose.

Ms. Neely

Liz Neely is from San Jose, California. She attended Texas State for one year and Santa Clara University for the rest, where she was majoring in journalism and loved the small class sizes. She then worked at college prep for nine years and Gilroy unified for seven years before that. She also taught for South Valley middle school in Gilroy. When she was still in college she was a very social person and participated in many activities in campus. Now, she is still a very social person and enjoys hanging out with friends. She also likes to garden and read on her free time. Her favorite sport is football; she is a Dallas Cowboys fan. Her favorite food is her mom’s cooking, especially shrimp scampi. Neely is also a former Lincoln student, at the time her favorite teacher for freshman and senior year was her mom. She believes that the biggest issues the youth faces is that they are losing the inability to interact with other people because they are so technology based nowadays.

Mr. Lynskey

Mr. Lynskey hails from Valencia, California. Growing up in Valencia, Mr. Lynskey was forced into dancing by his parents. It was not so bad as he found a love for it. All of his jobs have involved dancing, and one of his jobs was dancing in the Disneyland parades. When Lynskey is not dancing he plays video games like Warcraft. He loves gaming so much he believes the biggest issue facing the youth is that they have never played Mario kart 64. Over the summer, Lynskey went around the country to dance. He also enjoys the cold weather but has never been to San Francisco, which is probably the coldest city in the Bay. He’s also missing out on all the Pokemon over there!! He does indeed play Pokemon Go and is apart of team Mystic. Mr. Lynskey is excited to be in San Jose because he believes the best part about it is the energy it brings. He also hopes to work with the students in the arts department at Lincoln.

Ms. Amaros

Lauren Amaros was born and raised in Pennsylvania. She is half-Korean and half-Puerto Rican. She loved catching animals at a young age like turtles. She attended Dickinson College, she loved that fact that is was a smaller school, giving her a chance to get good connections. In her free time she enjoys writing poetry, drawing, and yoga. She has previously worked at DCP and Los Altos high school, giving her experience in the teaching field. Best part about Lincoln is the inclusive vibe and diversity. She had never heard of San Jose before coming here. Favorite foods include Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean. She was offered her position at Lincoln online. She enjoys listening to Trance and Hip Hop in her free time. She believes the biggest issue facing youth is the cycle of poverty. One thing she looks forward to is making class interactive and memorable. One of her fears is the darkness, as she doesn’t know where things are. Her inspiration to become a teacher was from her teachers being her mentors and supporters who guided her through school. With one million dollars, Ms. Amaros would repay her parents and buy them a house.

Ms. Montogomery

Gwen Montgomery grew up in the East Bay. She has been traveling and moving around; she just moved from San Diego. Montgomery attended Mills College in Oakland where she learned about diversity and unsocial justice which showed her how to advocate for herself and others. She really liked that the school was small and supportive. On her free time, she enjoyed playing strategy board games and reading books. Now, she plays roller derby and referees for Silicon Valley Roller Girls. She is currently in a graduate school program getting her master’s. Her favorite sports are roller derby and rock climbing. She believes that the biggest issue the youth faces is that there is not a lot of employment options available in traditional fields so when high school students graduate, they have to create the jobs themselves. She wanted to become an educator to see the potential in her students and she looks forward to learning more about her students and understanding them.

Mr. Rose

(Jacqueline Ramsey / Bay Area News Group)

Mr. Rose hails from Novato California. His favorite food is the El Burro Enchiladas Suiza which he says it is the greatest thing ever. He attended San Jose Community College, San Jose State, and Santa Clara University. When he is not teaching he is photographing pictures of massive fires and training firefighters. His favorite sport is American Football and he jokingly says that soccer isn’t a real sport. He loves Lincoln, going as far to say that its students are the the cream of the crop. Mr. Rose believes that other schools could be run in such a way that better prepares students for college, but he believes it’s hard to do based on how schools are currently set up. Mr. Rose wants to inspire his students by “being real” with them and “going past the textbooks.” He believes Lincoln is doing an excellent job at preparing us. He believes that the biggest issue facing youth is this year’s presidential election, which he believes is the worst one to date. The one thing he looks forward to is seeing students cross the stage at graduation.