Teachers are at the center of our education, and for over 50 years English teacher Jane Albano has embodied what it means to be at the center of our education, caring for each incoming freshman class just as much as the previous one.
Albano was born in Guam, she lived in Germany for 3 years, and then moved to Salinas when her father, who was in the US Army, was stationed at Fort Ord.
Once Alisal opened, Albano entered high school as a sophomore, class of 1968. “We were called the Class of no Distinction because class of 67 were the first to graduate from Alisal and class of 69 were the first to go for four years at Alisal,” Albano said. “We were here for three years, so we didn’t go for four years and we weren’t the first graduating class,¨ Albano said.
Albano’s initial goal was to pursue a career in journalism, “When I was here at Alisal, I was really involved in journalism, I was the first yearbook editor for three years and I was editor of the newspaper for 2 years and so I thought I was gonna be a journalism major.¨
Once she figured out she wanted to become a teacher while attending San Jose State, she realized she couldn’t major in journalism to be a teacher, so she majored in English, her strongest subject.
Coincidentally, once Albano earned her teaching credential, Alisal was hiring a new English teacher. “The person who was principal when I was a student here, he hired me,” she said. Since then Albano has found herself teaching back in the same classroom she once learned in, room 408, for what has been 30-40 years ever since.
Teaching for so long one must ask, what’s so special about Alisal? “Well for me, the students are what make this school special, it’s the students,” she said.
Albano believes the most important skill as a teacher has always been to connect and communicate with students. “At the beginning of each year, like at the beginning of this school year, freshmen I could hear them talking to each other, but because my former students would always come in, they would say, ‘Aw those kids come in to talk with her’ and we talk about different things, and I got I get lots of hugs every day and at the beginning of the year, I think the freshmen are a little bit, surprised about that,” she said.
Being able to leave a mark on students is crucial to their development in school and it’s true Albano has left hers. As a teacher, Albano has been shown to leave her mark on every one of her students, as is her favorite thing to do. “[Being] with students, watching them grow up, watching them have a dream and what to make that dream come true and helping those students fulfill their dreams,” she said.
She has definitely proven to have a positive impact on those she has worked with. “As a student, she really helped me with everything that I needed to get done,” former student, now senior and CSF President, Kalyssa Curiel said. “She effectively made us do those little paragraphs before class, [and] share it with our partners, which made us really engage.” As CSF president, Curiel worked closely with her and was constantly reminded of what their goals were by Albano. “Albano is effective and always makes sure the information is correct and always makes sure that work is being done to help out the community,” Curiel said. “Albano has really inserted herself into the community.”
More than just a teacher for students, Albano has been a mentor, a positive figure, and family to all those she has worked with. “More than just a coworker, she’s a mentor and to me, she’s actually family,” AP English teacher Ignacio Mendez said. “I actually have talked to her previously and I told her that she’s like my American mother because I can talk to her about things that my mom, for example, wouldn’t be able to understand.”
Albano’s bonds go beyond what anyone would expect. “She feels like a sister, a mother, and she is just so lovely and kind and helpful and considerate and just wants to do anything she can do to help you out, students, teachers, staff, anybody,” English teacher Venetia Rivera said. “I used to call her my BB, my best buddy, but I realize she’s everyone’s best buddy. and therefore I now call her SJ, but that to me is not really quite enough, so I just call her Sweet J.”
Her current students can agree. “I think she’s the best freshman English teacher and she’s a very nice teacher too and she’s passionate about her students,” current freshman student Ignacio Mendez Jr. said.
With her career well into its 6th decade, Albano has definitely left her mark on all those around her, and she will continue to do so. While she knows she’s not ready to leave yet, she knows when it will be time to call it a career. “Until I don’t want to come here at 6 o’clock in the morning and when I know that it’s where I shouldn’t be,” she said.
