Meet Your Academic Committee Representatives!

Northern California:

Helena Li, High School

I’m currently the ISP teacher at Oakdale, and before that taught Computer Skills at CJ5 and Maple Street. I started out as an elementary school teacher and moved into high school college admissions counseling, which was where I discovered a deep appreciation for the intersection of tech and education (aka edtech). Serendipitously, I had the opportunity to become the first employee of a transportation startup, so I grabbed it by the reins and learned a whole lot through many failures and successes. I returned to education because I missed it tremendously, and am now hoping to apply my skills to contribute to growing Five Keys’ efficiency and reach through technology (though I am no programmer). My goal is to teach technology content to our students, as well as improve our technology to help staff with our work. 

Kara Valle, ESL

​Hi there! I am currently the ESL and Spanish GED teacher at the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) in San Francisco.  Before coming to MEDA a couple months ago I worked at Glide in the Tenderloin for a year, and CJ5 for two years before that. I am also a teacher mentor for those teachers working on the credentialing process and I run our yearly art show :) Before Five Keys I was a social worker and ESL teacher with various immigrant populations for 7 years. I am so excited to be part of the Academic Committee and represent you all as we work together to shape the future of Five Keys. I am especially interested in ways that we can incorporate classes, workshops, field trips, online learning and guest teachers  in to the ISP model. I also hope to collaborate on fostering social-emotional learning in the classroom and best practices for teaching our ELL students. 

Southern California:

Marchelle Broussard, High School

​Marchelle Broussard teaches the students in the South Los Angeles community  ESL and ESL Computer skills at the brand new Weber Community Center. She has been teaching with Five Keys for three years at a variety of different community sites. Prior to coming to Five Keys she worked as a Job Developer and Case Manager for a WorkSource Center and as a teacher and teacher advisor for  LAUSD's Division of Adult and Career Education teaching academic, ESL, CTE,  and parenting courses for high school students and adults. Honored to serve as a teacher representative on the Professional Development sub-committee of the Academic Committee for the 2017-2018 school year, Marchelle's vision is to aid in building the school-to-career bridge for Five Keys graduates to enter post-secondary education after graduation and complete a workforce development certificate and/or 2-year or 4-year degree.

Patrick MItchell, CTE

​Patrick Mitchell is the Five Keys Sustainable Agriculture Instructor at Wayside Farm School. He is the author of two books and numerous articles. Patrick has more than 20 years of experience in ecological horticulture and land-based education. For the past decade, Patrick has taken a hands-on role in various market-scale farm operations by growing and selling culinary herbs, citrus, vegetables, and other specialty crops. He is a scholar of the relationship between nature and culture and believes deeply in the transformative power of putting one's hands in soil. Patrick’s vision for Five Keys is to see that the school become a true leader in transformative vocational education. To see it go beyond the watered down Career Technical Education model where students get neither the career training they need to perform a life’s work or the preparation needed to achieve success in higher educational pursuits. In particular, Patrick believes that Five Keys can be a national model for education in the trades, where students learn to be problem solvers and doers. Where Farmers, Mechanics, Painters, Welders and Wood Workers grow beyond the limits of science, math and technology. Where we teach our students, whether inside of custody or outside, to grow to be healthy community members and contributors to families, neighborhoods and the regions they choose to live in.