Written By: Staff Writer, Holly Pulley
GREETINGS: Poly appreciates new staff member Mr. De Anda!
As another Poly High School year starts, both new students and teachers make themselves comfortable in new territory. While change can be scary for some, the mission of existing Poly Staff and students is to make everyone feel welcome. Mr. DeAnda, Poly’s newest assistant principal, feels we have done just that for him.
Frank DeAnda Jr. is the new Assistant Principal for attendance at Poly, and was really attracted to working here due to Poly’s history and plans for the future. “A lot of the things Poly is doing align with my core values,” he commented. “Giving students a good high school experience is so important to me, and Poly strives to do that.”
Though Mr. DeAnda sees himself in the goals Poly High School has, he is not an alumni. He actually grew up in Pomona, where he went to Ganesha School and Cal Poly Pomona for college. DeAnda described Cal Poly Pomona as his “choice by situation.” His family’s economic status kept him just out of the threshold to earn any free money, and since CPP was “ten minutes away” from his house, DeAnda said, he could stay at home, ride his bike to school and back, and work to make money for his tuition. There, he earned his Bachelors, Masters, and teaching credentials. After graduating, he went to teach science for 19 years at Edwards Middle High School in Whittier, California, then went to University of California Riverside where he acquired his PPS credential, which allowed him to work as a counselor. From there, he took a counseling position at Liberty High School in Perris, California.
Mr. DeAnda is a great example of how far hard work can take a person. Not only did he pay for his own college tuition, he also paid for his own car, car insurance, gas, and worked multiple jobs to support himself while being a student. His main job was at Wendy’s Hamburgers, and he was also a swim instructor at the YMCA. He shared that he had always loved being around water as a kid and really liked teaching others to love it, too. He reminisced that in his college years, he was also a Boy Scout swim instructor over the summer, which was a lot of fun, too. Mr. De Anda has always been active. In high school, he played varsity volleyball, track, and cross country all four years. He still tries to pursue his athletic interests, and just recently found out he can run a nine minute mile! That is already impressive, and he thinks it is, too; though he does wish he still had his 4 minute and 52 second mile like he did in high school. Still impressive!
Mr. DeAnda did not always want to be an educator. In fact, when he was a kid, his dream job was to be a forest ranger! As he grew older, that dream faded away, and he planned to pursue a different path. He had always worked with kids when it came to swim-instructing and whatnot, but with his business degree, he was not set on teaching the next generation. “Then, I had kids,” DeAnda shared. Being able to teach his own children things and seeing them grow made him realize how much he loved to teach. He applied to be a middle school science teacher and got the job, and that was just the beginning of his educational career. He expressed that his favorite group to teach is ninth and tenth graders, because they are “impressionable enough and understand my jokes,” DeAnda said.
Fun facts about Mr. DeAnda:
His favorite branch of science is oceanography; he has three children (20, 24, 26); his favorite album is The Joshua Tree by U2; he’s learned to love country music; he loves Ice Cube specifically in his NWA ) era; he has three young Belgian Malinois.
Mr. De Anda will make a great addition to Poly, and we will continue to welcome him with open arms! Welcome to Riverside Poly High!
