Learn more about a talented member of the English department through the following Q&A with English teacher, Ms. Lisa Levine.
Q: Tell me a little bit about your history at San Miguel. Lisa: I am finishing my second year teaching at San Miguel. Our community stands out in my career! While SMHS and my previous campuses, Presidio School and Pima Community College, share traits such as a strong Mexican-American culture and an emphasis on learning, the reputation San Miguel holds in the community is a point of distinction. Non-bulldogs know our school, and acquaintances consistently associate academic and professional excellence with San Miguel. For example, a friend I rock climb with works with our students at the Tucson International Airport, and another taught one of our graduates in the University of Arizona Math Department. The comment, "Oh, I've heard of that school" and the positive associations outsiders have of the San Miguel students they have met indicate that we have crafted a unique presence out of those common Tucson-school traits.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of teaching high school English? What is the most challenging aspect? Lisa: Language stays alive in how it is used by each generation, so sharing English knowledge and eliciting the voice of local, late-teen America keeps me thinking about life in 2023 in a dynamic, realistic, and hopeful way. One true cliche is that students will always surprise their mentors and teachers. When my classes started their study of the classic text "Othello," one young woman turned us all around in a discussion by saying that she liked Iago, the play's undisputed villain. This is a character who lies, deceives, and instigates the death of love, so we were all a bit shocked. She went on to explain that he kept the story interesting, and she is right - what horrifies in real life thrills in literature. Seeing young people grapple with the value of literary writing brings me into daily contact with the unexpected - a challenge I appreciate, as a natural thrill-seeker.
Q: What is your favorite book/poem/essay to teach? What about your favorite thing to read just for fun? Lisa: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, a short story by Joyce Carol Oates set in Tucson, and novels dealing with social issues, like Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos or Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary.
Q: Some of your hobbies are hiking and climbing. What do you like about these activities? Where are your favorite outdoor spaces in or near Tucson? Lisa: When I climb, I am in my Wendy time - think Captain Hook and the lost boys! Everyone needs a space to be selfish and resist adulthood. Favorite spaces? Cochise Stronghold, off the Benson freeway exit, which had hard to access, huge granite domes, and Tucson Mountain Park trails, especially the stone house. I love the classic low-lying desert landscape of ocotillos, prickly pear, acacia and catclaw, deer, bunnies, and dirt, and I love that it is a Tucson landmark anyone can reach with only a water bottle and sneakers.
Q: You often design creative activities and projects for your students. Where do you get your ideas? Why do you implement creative activities and projects in your curriculum? A: Students give me the best ideas! Our Shakespeare performances happened because Michelle Felix, one of my AP Lit students, asked if we could perform the work out loud. Rather than write a paper about "Othello," the classes acted out dramatic interpretations. My ninth grade teacher, Hakim Mansour, made us memorize and recite Shakespeare in high school in 1992, so I would never have unearthed that classic assignment if she had not asked for it. I also find inspiration in arts I struggle with, like drawing - students seem to blossom when they tackle visual representations of literature on a one-sheet or a visual annotation. For me, creativity is central to finding a voice - isn't that what English, or any language, is all about? | 
