By Maxwell Alexander and Jake Ha

SAN JOSE, CALIF.—Many Silver Creek High School teachers are alumni at this school, having enrolled decades in the past or just a few years ago, all with their own reasons for returning. Kylee Gonzalez, Phi James, Peter Chu and Quynh Nguyen are a few examples of our amazing alumni. 

One of the most recent alumni is Gonzalez. Though she graduated in 2014, the school’s culture did not change much when she started teaching here in 2020. The student drive for academics and extracurriculars has been consistent, while many teachers and staff have changed. 

Gonzalez’s heavy involvement in Silver Creek activities as a student, such as three years of leadership and being a class officer in her senior year, already made the school a familiar place. Familiarity is what brought her back, as she knew the Silver Creek culture well. 

One thing she said to students hoping to come back as teachers is “to be the change you want to be in school.” Bring your own teaching style to your classroom based on your high school experience.

James is another recent alumni who graduated from Silver Creek in 2005 and returned six years later in 2011 as a teacher. James was very involved during her time at Silver Creek, as she was in multiple leadership roles, including Girls Basketball, Track and Field, Filipino Student Union, Vietnamese Student Union and Key Club. 

She decided to return to the school because she wanted to “Go back to the school that gave me the tools to be successful and I want to give back to my community.” A word of advice that she gives to students that want to return as teachers is to find the school that suits them the best and will provide the best environment to thrive. 

Chu graduated from Silver Creek in 2010 and began teaching in 2016. Returning to teach was a fortune for him, as he always wanted to return to give back to the community that raised him. 

Even in the short time from his student to teacher experiences, Chu has noticed a large change in school culture, as current students attempt to overperfect their high school resume by doing everything. Despite this change, he appreciates the consistent caring and supportive nature of students and staff.

A tip he has for prospective Silver Creek teachers is: “Don’t take your high school experience personally. Take the good and the bad and make the most out of your high school experience, so when you return, you can help your future students make the most out of theirs.”

While most alumni teachers had six years between being a student and a teacher here, Nguyen waited 12 years, from 2008 to 2020, before returning. Although she was not extremely involved in school spirit as a student, she found a stronger connection with Silver Creek as a student teacher, which compounded as a professional teacher. 

The largest change Nguyen noticed is the prevalence of technology, as flip phones were replaced by cellular ones, which has had positives and negatives. Even a decade later, the most notable similarity is school spirit continuing to be a massive part of Silver Creek’s identity.

Having vastly different experiences as a student compared to a teacher, Nguyen tells students hoping to follow a similar path that, “Whatever your perspective is as a student, it’s different as a teacher.” 

A continuity that most teachers appreciated was the positive community, prominent in their student and teacher years. It is that community, built by students of the past and continued by the ones who stayed, which makes Silver Creek worth returning to.