Jimenez steps down, Bisson to replace him as Department Chair

Chase WohrleStaff WriterAfter over 20 years as the head of the History Department, Samo social studies teacher Jaime Jimenez will hand over the reins to social studies teacher Amy Bisson.“I’ve been the department chair for approximately twenty years,” Jimenez said. “I’d like to have some new blood in there, with some new direction.”Jimenez’s decision to not run for the spot wasn’t seen as sudden or brash, but fitting: Jimenez nears his retirement, which he says will come in two to four years. Even though he still has time until he hopes to retire, he felt leaving his position on his last year would be unfair to the newly elected chair. For his remaining time at Samo, Jimenez plans to make his main focus classroom instruction.“Whoever the new department chair was going to be, I wanted to be here to help them with the transition,” he said. “This was the WASC year, and I wanted to make sure I finished up with that and not just give it over to somebody.”When the time came around to elect a new chair, Bisson had support from her colleagues.“I actually didn’t nominate myself,” she said.What makes Bisson especially qualified for the spot is her involvement with a group of Samo teachers who received the Teacher Initiated Inquiry Project (TIIP) grant from UCLA. Social studies teachers Adrienne Karyadi, William Gow, Daniel Escalera and Ned Acker were among those to receive the grant.“Our primary focus is improving academic writing in history, helping students with their research skills and showing how to use primary sources to help write analytically,” Bisson said. “Another part of the grant is helping students to navigate more of the digital age, like how to find a primary source.”Karyadi agrees with Bisson, saying the knowledge gained from the grant will help students in multiple ways.“It’s beneficial because it’s talking more about depth as opposed to covering material just to cover it,” Karyadi said. “It can do two things at once, but it also does something that I think most history teachers would like to do: talk on an elevated, professional level about learning and teaching.”As the new head, Bisson will sit in on the Instructional Planning Committee representing the History Department. Within the department, she will oversee which and how many classes will be taught, have input on the hiring of new history teachers and work with the budget in regards to purchasing supplies and addressing teachers’ concerns.Bisson hopes that becoming more involved in the department will benefit her teaching. In the coming years she plans to unify the group of teachers, thus benefiting Samo students.“I hope to make us a stronger unit,” she said.cwohrle@thesamohi.com