Walking into S203, Mrs. Katlyn Trevino greets her students with a bright smile, ready to teach them about the evolutionary world of biology.

Graduating as a Husky from Ayala’s old rival, Chino Hills High School, Trevino has become a proud Bulldog teacher this year and is currently teaching both CP and Honors Biology.

“I love the students at Ayala and the culture of the campus,” Trevino said. “It’s very positive and community oriented and every student is always striving to do their best.”

Despite being hired as a new teacher this year, Trevino has taught at Ayala as a student teacher just in the last school year, and is familiar with the Bulldog campus and culture. 

​​“I definitely chose this school because I had a really positive experience in my student teaching,” Trevino said. 

Trevino studied human biology in college, thus she had expected to become a student teacher for the biology courses at Ayala. However, she was unexpectedly thrust into student teaching for AP Environmental Science classes as well.

“Having her as a student teacher definitely brought back memories because back when I was a student teacher, I was also thrown into a subject I wasn’t comfortable with,” AP Environmental Science and Honors Biology teacher Mrs. Pamela Sporman said. “She had a similar experience, and it was definitely challenging, but a great experience for the both of us.”

Trevino has been settling into the science building community comfortably, and is just two doors down from Sporman whom she shadowed during her student teaching experience. 

“We talk everyday and are still really close,” Sporman said. “I actually first met her in high school, and my first impression was how sweet she is.” 

Trevino’s sweet and calm demeanor along with her desire to help her students has made her a favorite teacher to many. On top of this, her students find it easy to talk to her about things outside of biology as well. 

“We could talk to her about anything, even interests outside of school,” Brianna Xie (10) said. 

Helping others has always been something Trevino enjoyed, but she found her passion during her undergraduate studies. 

“In college I took a lot of really challenging classes, so my friends and I often studied together,” Trevino said. “What really helped me learn was teaching others, and seeing that light bulb go off in their head really brought me joy.” 

Still, even though she knew she enjoyed helping others, Mrs. Trevino didn’t figure out what she wanted to do until after college. 

“I wanted to become a positive influence for high school students since I remember high school being an important time in my own life,” Trevino said. “I want to help my students to have their light bulbs go off too.” 

Biology is known as a notorious course that many students fear due to the numerous concepts crammed into a year. Even so, the subject holds a special place in Trevino’s heart, one that she hopes to spread to her students. 

“I would say she’s very good at describing things, and she always tries her best to help us students understand,” Xie said. “I really did enjoy having her as my teacher.”