Ms. Yvie Raij is the new digital arts teacher at Glendale High School, and she is off to a great start. She began her career in cinematography, before becoming a high school teacher in San Francisco, where she taught two different game design academies. She began teaching at GHS in the Fall of 2021.

Explain your high school experience?

I went to three high schools. My parents sent me to a private Catholic school. I hated it. I mean my friends were from public school. [One of my junior year teachers was] like a really close mentor. I got to know him and his family, and [when] my mom had to move to Florida my senior year, I just stayed with him. They’re my unofficial godparents, [and] they’re all in Colorado.

What are your hobbies? 

Because we’re teaching, I feel like that’s all I do now, but if I had time, I really like VR. I would like developing games, hiking or flying a kite.

What made you want to learn about digital arts?

I have always been into tech. In fact, I really [thought] that I was probably going to be an engineer, because as a little kid I took everything apart. Like I took the TV apart, [and] I drove my mom crazy.

What jobs did you have before getting into education?

Art organizing and film producing with more art type people, because I was trying to be more independent.

Why did you come to GHS?

I literally just moved down here in the spring. I saw this school and I loved everything. I loved all the programs, such as the game design [and] digital arts [programs], and this school had everything I loved.

What is your favorite part about being a teacher? 

When people become happy when they see how much their art grows, and how much better they become. When they show when they are interested in it without me pushing them. The students that are really into the work, I love seeing their ideas. Seeing groups work together, talking and laughing together. When a student wants to show me what they did even if it wasn’t in class.

How do you feel about GHS?

I really like the school, [and] the people have been really nice to me since I first came. Because usually students don’t like new teachers, so I was really surprised and welcomed.

What are the difficult aspects of this job?

The teenage frontal lobe isn’t fully aged. It’s challenging to keep teens engaged.

What advice do you have for GHS students who might be interested in getting into education?

When I was teaching in San Francisco, they had programs that had students get paid for being teachers’ assistants. Last summer one of the students said he realized that he didn’t know that teachers had so much work. I think if a teen wants to be a teacher, they should do the teacher’s work, so they can learn what the teachers experience outside of the classroom.

Ms. Raij is still working through her first year, but we hope that she is able to expand on her program in the many years to come. If you are interested in taking Ms. Raij’s digital art class next year, please talk to your counselor!