The Iconic Mr. Garduño

 By Astrid Pierre and Paul Despres - February 8, 2022

DUN DUN DUN… There’s a teacher that has been selected for the profile and it is…the one and only…

MR. GARDUÑO

You probably have some knowledge about who Mr. Garduño is. If you don’t, he is the 6th grade math teacher at MS447 and this article is going to be his spotlight interview. He works with other math teachers in the 6th grade and is a great teacher. Here is the interview.

MR GARDUÑO’S PAST AND PRESENT JOBS

Mr Garduño, how long have you been teaching at 447?

“I think I began here in 2016.” 

Were you a teacher before then?

“I taught somewhere else for a year before I got this job here and before that I had a million other really strange jobs. I was a performer, I worked with a bike nonprofit, I was a dog walker, I can’t even tell you all of them.”

Last year when the pandemic was crazy, Mr Garduño took students to random playgrounds in the area around 447 whenever he could.

Do you still take kids there?

“Well, in a normal year maybe we get out of the building once or twice but last year was super different so I explored every park and playground in the area and that was one of the first playgrounds I took you guys to.”

Mr Garduño also bikes a ton Instead of driving or taking the subway.

Why do you love bikes so much? 

“It's fun to ride around, you are not stuck in traffic and it’s good for the world.”

 How long is your commute to school?

“15- 20 minutes.”

What subjects have you taught? 

“Everything except Social Studies.”

What is your favorite subject to teach?

“Probably math because it gets a bad rap but it gives you the most room to play around.” 

What was your favorite class to teach besides math?

“ELA was great because you could have a lot of conversations that relate to your content.”

MR GARDUÑO’S FAMILY TIES TO THE ATOM BOMB

Did your ancestors work on the atom bomb? What’s the story behind that? 

“Well that's an interesting story. My family does have ties to the nuclear facility in Los Elmos, New Mexico where my grandfather worked as a custodian at that facility when they were building the nuclear bomb. Then later, my dad went to school, became an electrical engineer and was working at some of the same labs that his father worked as a custodian at. Then my sister went back to the museum because her husband also worked in the Los Elmos facility as well and so they had an exhibit about the history of the lab and one of the pictures was my grandfather’s ID and of course they spelled his name wrong.” 

MR GARDUÑO’S HOME LIFE

Do you have any pets? 

“I do now, this has been a big year for pets. I started the school year with no pets and then I got a rabbit and a cat within a week of each other. My cat is pretty big and my rabbit loves to just wander around wherever everyday.” 

Where does your kid go to school now? 

“He's in preschool now, a K280.”

How do you feel about switching remote learning to going back in the building again? 

“Last year was so weird but I did end up having a good time with it, it was smaller classes, we were just doing whatever we felt like for the day, whatever worked. But, it’s definitely better now because of having more kids in the building, definitely better to have everyone in the building because it was a real bummer to try to reach people through the computer. So, fun trips were a result of last year, but probably a lot of people didn’t get that stuff.”

 As you can see, Mr. Garduño has some interesting things in his life. Family ties to a nuclear facility, a love for bikes, a rabbit, a dog, several strange jobs and most of all, teaches several students at MS447.