8th Grade Science Teachers
VMMS prides itself on its collaborative, positive community. As science teachers we are one part of a Core Team whose sole responsibility it is to care and educate. We take that job seriously! We hope that you care about our backgrounds, interests and talents as much as we care about yours...
THIS is who we are...
THIS is who we are...
Sam Stavis
My "Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy."
-Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist
My name is Sam Stavis, and I have been a Sciences teacher at Vista Magnet for the past 6 years. I am originally from Queens, NY and went to the University of Rochester, majoring in Clinical and Social Psychology/Brain & Cognitive Sciences. I also have a Masters in Education from City University of New York, Queens College, which also happens to be where my mother and father received their Masters and Bachelors degrees! I met my wife in college in Rochester, NY when I was 18 years old, but we quickly got tired of the snow and the cold and we got married in her family's backyard here in San Diego. My wife is also a teacher. She teaches Math 1 Readiness and Academic Survival at La Costa Canyon HS, which happens to be in the district she attended as a teen! We both LOVE being educators and sometimes even need reminders from our daughter to stop talking about school when we are at home! We have two children, Thyme (8) and Wylie (6) who both attend Casita Center Elementary School, also in VUSD. 3 years ago we moved to Vista, CA and now own a home in the community. We LOVE being a part of the Vista!
The University of Rochester's motto is something that I have taken as my own personal, and classroom, creed:
MELIORA!!!
In Latin this phrase roughly translates to: ALWAYS BETTER!!!
-Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist
My name is Sam Stavis, and I have been a Sciences teacher at Vista Magnet for the past 6 years. I am originally from Queens, NY and went to the University of Rochester, majoring in Clinical and Social Psychology/Brain & Cognitive Sciences. I also have a Masters in Education from City University of New York, Queens College, which also happens to be where my mother and father received their Masters and Bachelors degrees! I met my wife in college in Rochester, NY when I was 18 years old, but we quickly got tired of the snow and the cold and we got married in her family's backyard here in San Diego. My wife is also a teacher. She teaches Math 1 Readiness and Academic Survival at La Costa Canyon HS, which happens to be in the district she attended as a teen! We both LOVE being educators and sometimes even need reminders from our daughter to stop talking about school when we are at home! We have two children, Thyme (8) and Wylie (6) who both attend Casita Center Elementary School, also in VUSD. 3 years ago we moved to Vista, CA and now own a home in the community. We LOVE being a part of the Vista!
The University of Rochester's motto is something that I have taken as my own personal, and classroom, creed:
MELIORA!!!
In Latin this phrase roughly translates to: ALWAYS BETTER!!!