Behind the scenes at San Rafael High School, Ms. Erby works for students. She manages a heavy workload of tiring tasks to figure out strategies to improve the school’s environment for students and teachers. She is usually seen walking all around school, but her office is in a quiet corner of the main office where hardly anyone goes. Ms. Erby tries to handle both the social dynamics of students and teachers to encourage more diverse thinking. “I hope people feel supported by me, I think it’s important to talk to kids and hear where they’re coming from,” she explained with an excited smile on her face.  

Ms. Erby was a teacher for 16 years, and she gained her bachelor’s degree from a small, private liberal arts school in Ohio called the College of Wooster. “But no one, like outside of the Midwest, has heard of it,” she chuckled. After gaining her bachelors in Ohio, she got her teaching credential and one of her master’s degrees from San Francisco State. She also gained another master’s degree from UC-Berkeley. 

Being an assistant principal wasn’t what she planned at first. While she finished college at 22, she didn’t become a teacher until she was 29. Being a teacher was just one of several careers she was interested in until she started working with high school students in Oakland. She was running a teen clinic in East Oakland, which helped students with work and any struggle they were battling. She was inspired by them and that’s when she decided to become a teacher. 

From teaching third graders to high schoolers, she tried to figure out what she liked most. “What I find most impactful about Mrs. Erby is her extensive background,” Mr. Dominguez, the principal of San Rafael High School, wrote in an email. “Her prior experience as a teacher in large high schools, coupled with her work at the middle school level outside of our district, has provided her with a truly rich and comprehensive understanding of how schools operate.”

She loved helping kids, but to her it was getting harder. She knew that there could be changes to the district. “The more I taught, the more I understood about the systemic problems within the schools in the district,” said Ms. Erby. She wanted to bring a more engaging and fun community to schools. “School is great for a lot of kids, and really not great for a lot of kids too. I feel like it should be great for everybody, and someone is going to have to help make it that way,” Ms. Erby explained. 

Wanting to empower students and make school more engaging, she shaped her teaching around her students’ interests. Her curriculum often tied into their skills and encouraged them to use their own talents in the classroom. She avoided reusing the same lesson plans year after year, constantly changing her approach with new subjects. “Every year, I might teach the Great Migration, which is a subject that I’m very passionate about,” she explained. “But I would bring in different resources every year, constantly redoing things.” Her assignments usually included creative writing, art or visual presentations, giving students multiple ways to express themselves.

But not everything always went according to plan. Working with new groups of students each year had its challenges. “That became tiring. It became hard, which became more tiring. Or maybe it’s the other way around, I’m not too sure,” she said with a hint of  confusion. Wanting to reduce stress for her students, she rarely gave out tests. Instead she focused on projects and essays that encouraged students to show what they truly understood and felt about the material.  

Eventually, the exhaustion caught up with her. “I became burned out, and coupled with my interest in making a better experience for my kids, It led me into administration,” she said. Combining her passion for leadership with her desire to help high school students, she decided to pursue an assistant principal position. 

When asked why she chose to come to SR, she said, “I value working in diverse communities. Although SR is not diverse in many ways, it is in a lot other ways.” With hopes of building a stronger community, she brings her past experiences and commitment to the students of SR. “There are a lot of sweet and very creative kids here at SR,” she added. 

Her colleagues speak highly of her presence on campus. “Ms. Erby is a thoughtful, detail-oriented and compassionate member of our admin team,” said Mr. Dominguez. “She loves our students and is always speaking up for equitable solutions to help every student do better.” 

Her involvement at SR extends beyond the administration. She supports the ASB class, which organizes school events and comes up with fun activities. “She’s always been incredibly supportive to me and my ASB students as we navigate various procedures and events that can be quite tedious,” said Mrs. Kury, the head of ASB. “Whenever we have questions about fundraisers or procedures, she’s always ready to help us ensure that we are following the guidelines.” 

From creating joyful learning experiences to guiding students through challenges, she continues to center young people in her work. “I found that when young people want to learn about the world,” she reflected, “It’s our responsibility as adults to help discover this.”