New Semester, New Staff

Mr.+Collazo

Palak Tohan

Mr. Collazo

Palak Tohan and Judith Romero

As the new semester blossoms, new faces bloom. The newest staff members here at Selma High this semester include Ms. Omlos, Ms. Parker and Mr. Collazo. 

Ms. Olmos

This is Omlos’ first year at Selma High, and she is very excited to be here as an at-risk counselor who helps students become the best versions of themselves. 

“Our mission is to help all students not only be successful in school but be lifelong learners,” exclaimed Olmos. “I help students build resiliency or coping strategies either with me or where I send them out to other resources…so that they can be successful in school and continue being successful outside of school.” 

She helps students build and develop skills to be prosperous later on in life, as well as right now. 

She wanted to become an academic counselor so that she can help students graduate from high school, find whatever they wanted to do in careers, and essentially achieve their life goals and let them know that they always have someone there to push them to get through. Some changes she plans to make in her department are being able to see the change in students in school and promote academic success and coping strategies. 

The more underdeveloped areas in this school are regarding academics, so Olmos will definitely be able to accommodate and address this issue with her past experiences and knowledge. 

Outside of her school and work life, she enjoys snowboarding with her family.  

Ms. Parker

Parker introduces herself as the new Assistant Principal at Selma High. This is her 20th year working in the Selma Unified School District. Her past work experiences include working at Roosevelt as a special day class teacher and a RSP teacher, a Program Manager at Eric White, then a RSP teacher at Selma High, an SDC teacher at Wilson, and then finally moved onto the current position of Assistant Principal here. 

Her position includes working with state and federal programs, with the school site council, and the English Language Advisory Committee. 

With her new position, she would like to be able to allocate funds towards the right goals for this school that would be most advantageous to students for their best interests. 

“There are a lot of great things here going on, but one change I would like to personally see is the addition of more electives, and possibly putting more pride into our campus,” Parker explained. 

Her favorite part about the position is “getting to support not just students, but also the teachers and helping students reach grade level standards, improve their behavior and just get them the services they need.” 

Another thing she loves about her job is being able to get out of her office and being able to check into other rooms and meetings to talk to students and teachers.

Her goal is to make students feel welcomed and want to come to school everyday to become involved in not only the school, but also the community. 

Beyond her work life, Parker cherishes any moments she gets to spend with her family and pets.  

Mr. Collazo

Although Collazo is not new here to the school, he is bringing his fulfillment to this new position of Assistant Principal. This is his 14th year at Selma High, and he still treats every new school year as his first.  

His past experiences include long-term teacher substitution, law enforcement, junior high school teacher and counselor. 

“I still use my experiences as a school counselor to help students get back on track,” stated Collazo. 

“I’m still working with students, just at a different level.”

He is in charge of the Bear Center. He deals with the more “extreme” disciplinary issues around campus. His role includes supporting students into making sure they are on the right path towards graduating from high school. He makes sure both students and teachers meet federal and state performance guidelines, and they manage school safety. If a student is brought in with a concern, it is ensured that they are directed to the right counselor to attempt to help them overcome whatever it may be that they are facing. 

His department works with students to make sure students do not side track and fall back down the same path they started on when first approaching guidance.  

Not only is he passionate about helping students towards reaching their full potential, he is also intrigued by motorcycles and is an “adrenaline junkie,” he jokingly quotes.