media Academy
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Jasmene Miranda Director & CTE Teacher
"Teaching Media Literacy and Filmmaking is more than a gig." As a lifelong resident of Oakland, California, a graduate of the Media Academy of Fremont High school, and a filmmaker Jasmene is a proud advocate of the power of Media Literacy. While attending high school, she had numerous opportunities to explore multiple forms of media through internships with television stations and local grassroots news organizations. Attending a high school that believed in career technical education opened doors for Jasmene to step into a male-dominated world and gain her footing very early on.
Jasmene's work as a producer for independent productions allowed her to understand the power wielded by those behind the camera. Those experiences have shaped her approach to education. She believes that we do not need to find our voice. We simply need guidance and access to the tools that allow us to produce content that will reflect our core values, vision, and personal mission.
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"It’s about creating safe and inspiring spaces for kids to step into their power. As a multimedia educator and a creator, I am ​embedded in community work. My career in and out of the classroom has allowed me to work with youth across the city of Oakland at every stage of their creative process. As an educator, ​my classroom continues to reflect the mission of community-based youth art and music collaborative."
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Nicholas Basta
CTE Teacher
Leon Sykes
CTE Teacher
"Leon Sykes is an Oakland Native, graduated from Oakland Tech in 2003, he's dedicated his life to teaching youth in Oakland. He comes to Fremont with over 15 years experience teaching media studies to youth across the Bay Area."
Agnes Zapata
English Language Arts Teacher
Agnes Zapata teaches English in East Oakland. After graduating from college with a BA in English from UCLA, she moved to Chicago and earned an MA in English from Loyola University of Chicago. While in Chicago, she volunteered with adult learners who recently immigrated to the United States in order to help them improve their English skills. After finishing her program at Chicago, Agnes moved to Stanford to earn her teaching credential in the STEP program. She then began teaching in Oakland and has taught there ever since because she loves it! Agnes currently teaches at Fremont High School, which is a vibrant beating heart of multiple diverse student groups who are rooted in a culture of activism. She has worked on collaborating with others trying to incorporate more civic engagement and culturally relevant pedagogy through professional development groups such as Educating for Democracy in the Digital Age and the Graduate Capstone Learning Series. In her ninth year teaching, she has taught a range of classes including SDAIE English, reading intervention, 9th, 10th, 11th grade English, AP Lit, and AP Lang. She loves incorporating pop culture in the classroom -- on any given day, you might find her using The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or The George Lopez Show to teach anything from vocab to gender studies. She has participated in a number of leadership roles at her school site including School Site Council, Hiring Committee, Design Team, and Measure N Committee. She recently earned her National Board Certification and currently mentors new teachers.
Filberto Chavez
History Teacher
"Born in East Los Angeles and raised in both Mexico and California. Filberto Chavez graduated from Whittier High School where they filmed "Back to the Future" and President Nixon graduated from. He first came to the Bay Area at the age of eighteen and fell in love with History and Chicano/ Latino Studies at UC Berkeley. After a short return to LA, Filberto left for Chicago, Illinois, and attended graduate school at the University of Chicago, where he studied to be a college professor and lived for five years before returning to the Bay Area. This is his fifth year teaching in East Oakland, and he is grateful to be working with youth and teaching in Oakland."
Mathmatics Teacher
Joey Notaro
"Joey Notaro is entering his fifth year as a high school mathematics teacher. He graduated from Cornell University with a B. S. in Science of Natural and Environmental Systems. After moving to the Bay Area, he spent three years working for a nonprofit in San Francisco serving homeless youth. His experience as an Outreach Counselor and GED Instructor gave him firsthand insight into the brutality of our current educational system and its casualties. Students habitually failed the mathematics subtest of the GED more than any other content area, and this led him to be a part of the wave of educators demanding justice for students who have long been neglected or abused by a such an unresponsive system. Joey attained his Master’s in Education at Mills College where he imbibed the school's six principles of teaching practice, and he has strived to live those principles in his daily teaching practice. Most significantly, Joey believes that teaching is a collegial act and has been the Chair of Fremont High School’s Faculty Council for three years. He has participated in Teaching for Robust Understanding in Mathematics and Lesson Study learning cycles within a highly collaborative mathematics department. "