Mr. Rossi was born and raised in Salinas. He even attended elementary school in our very own Salinas City School District. This is Mr. Rossi's 34th year of teaching. Besides being a credentialed teacher, Mr. Rossi is also a full-time musician. He plays multiple instruments, performs with multiple music groups, and he'll be the first to say, "I never get tired of playing music!" Mr. Rossi's teaching philosophy is very simple. He believes that every person needs a creative outlet. He encourages his students to express themselves; learn an instrument, write a poem, write a song, sing a song, and keep an open mind. All music is great!

Mr. Griffin was born fittingly in Music City, better known as Nashville, Tennessee. His love for records and FM radio as a youth helped pave the wave for his love of music. His mother, Mrs. Griffin of Monterey Park School, used to have a wide variety of vinyl records and he would listen to everything from The Doors to Cyndi Lauper, The Beatles to Prince, Metallica to Nirvana, and everything in between. Mr. Griffin was actually in the beginning stages of being a classically trained pianist around the age of seven. However, he was also very drawn in by the acoustic and electric guitar. The first songs Mr. Griffin learned on guitar were some early rock and roll and blues numbers as his skills at the time were of the three-chord variety. Mr. Griffin grew up and began performing in various bands, started his own band, and tried learning as many instruments as possible. Previous to joining the Music Department, Mr. Griffin taught 3rd, 4th, and 6th grade at Monterey Park and Kammann schools, both in our Salinas City Schools District. Mr. Griffin loves inspiring students and is very excited about working alongside Mr. Rossi as the new music teacher for our schools!