Have you ever thought about taking a second language but just wasn’t sure how it’d all work out? Fear not Ripon High because Mrs. Sylvia Ochoa is here to save the day! Mrs. Ochoa knows everything you need to know if you’re certain on learning Spanish from greetings to salutations; she’s got it all.
Ochoa has been teaching here at Ripon High for the past four years ever since the 2021-2022 school year. Ochoa was first here on a temporary long term plan the previous year to substitute for the past Spanish teacher that went on maternity leave but then came back full time. From the past semesters that Ochoa has been here, she has learned to “better develop my lessons to be fun, I mean not every single lesson is fun but I’ve learned to incorporate more fun activities like Jeopardy…” Ochoa also stated that “I’ve learned to incorporate past lessons into the projects so you guys can apply it to real life situations…”
Ochoa’s initial plans after her high school were to go to Modesto Junior College to figure out a set pathway that she would like to take. After MJC, Ochoa got her Associates in Liberal Studies, which can be used towards a teaching degree. Then after receiving her AA, Ochoa graduated from Chabot College in Hayward. Following up with that, Ochoa went back to Ripon in 2006 before her son Marcus was born and went to Stanislaus State and got her degree in Business and Marketing.
After a couple years, she took some time off and Ochoa’s sister Laura Ochoa kept telling her that she should be a substitute teacher, but was hesitant at first thinking back to her high school years and how they would treat the subs.
Ochoa explained, “The kids would be intimidating cause you just remember when you’re in high school and how the kids used to treat the subs.”
But reluctantly, Ochoa decided to go for it, getting all set to become a substitute teacher and once she got the hang of things, she really liked how she had family here and wanted to go full time. She had given some thought about what type of teacher she’d like to be, then one day when subbing at Ripon High, Principal Rangel asked if she would be interested in being a long term sub for Spanish. She replied, “Sure I’ll give it a shot.” After that, she really enjoyed teaching Spanish. So afterwards, she started to pursue her teaching credentials in Spanish to become a teacher full time here at Ripon High.
Ripon High has a fashion show for seniors called Sober Grad and Ochoa runs the whole operation. She has been a part of the organization for six years since the board was looking for a new member to help with the fashion show. Even though being the fashion show coordinator and having everything be in precise detail, it is one of Mrs. Ochoa’s favorite things to do with students.
In her free time she always likes going to the gym in the mornings, “5:30 in the morning you can find me at CrossFit in Salida.” After school, she goes home and spends time with her dogs that she absolutely loves and adores as well as listening to audio books. Another hobby that Ochoa loves is hiking and she had completed her 10th hike that took place up near Missions Peak around Thanksgiving time.
