- Lincoln Middle
- Meet Our Teachers
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Click on our pictures to learn more about us
Band, Chorus, Orchestra
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Richard Morgan
ELA/ History Department
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Jon Meisterling
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Tina Bolden
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Caitlin Dinh
Hi! My name is Caitlin Dinh and I am excited to be teaching Language Arts and Social Studies at Lincoln. I was born and raised in Hawaii and graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. After graduating, I moved to San Diego and later completed the Middle Level Education Program at Cal State San Marcos. My favorite part about working with middle schoolers is the fun and energy they bring to everything! When I am not in school, I love to swim, paddleboard, hike, and read with my husband and our 2 year old beagle/chihuahua mix. Though I miss Hawaii, I love the people, activities, and environment of San Diego and am fortunate to live here. I am looking forward to a year full of growth with you all!
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Ali Farah
Hello. My name is Ali Farah, and I teach 7th grade English and history. It is a joy and honor to educate our students, while watching them learn and grow as they move through the grade levels here at Lincoln. Outside of work, I enjoy road trips, walks, and Disneyland with my eight-year-old daughter.
"The best part about teaching is that it matters." - Unknown
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Rhianna Johnson
Born and raised in Oceanside and now teaching 7th-grade humanities at Lincoln’s beautiful campus is such a privilege. This is my 16th year of teaching grades from 1-8. Over the years, I have discovered how much I love teaching middle school. Every day your children make me smile. I am mother of two girls who attend Palmquist. When I am not teaching you can find our family traveling, at the beach, or with family and friends. I am really looking forward to this year, getting to know your children and to work with families together to support all children in all of their needs.
rhianna.johnson@oside.us
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Monica Pizzia
Hiking, traveling, volunteering, and taking care of the environment are my passions. I take any opportunity I can to learn more about cultures that are different to mine and languages that are foreign to me. I earned my Bachelor’s Degree and a Teaching Credential from CSUSM and have taught most of the grades from prek-9th. I spent 2.5 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in North Macedonia. There I taught English as a Foreign Language and worked with local NGOs to develop youth education programs. My experiences teaching and traveling have taught me patience, humility, and resilience. I’m excited to join the Lincoln family - GO PANTHERS!!
monica.pizzia@oside.us
ELD
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Arturo Morales
My name is Arturo Morales. I was born in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico. I have lived in Oceanside since second grade, attending Palmquist Elementary, Jefferson Junior High, and Oceanside High School. After high school and one year of college, I joined the Marines. After 24 years of service, I retired from the Marine Corps and decided to continue my service in my community as a teacher. I attended California State University San Marcos and graduated with a degree in psychological science. I completed graduate school at Pepperdine University with an MA in Teaching with a social science teaching credential and Bilingual Authorization (BCLAD). I am a current graduate student at Pepperdine in their Clinical Psychology program. I love working at Lincoln. It has been a perfect fit for me, especially because of the great staff and even better students.
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Ann Ware
Math Department
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Ben Davis
BEN DAVIS
As a teacher I hope interactions with my students will positively influence their lives mathematically and personally. The hard skills of mathematics and the soft skills of relationship building are emphasized in our classroom. In pursuit of this goal, I am available during lunch for those who would benefit from additional help. Personally, I am most proud of being a Grandfather, Father, Husband and a Teacher.
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Jeremy Robydek
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Sal Sanchez
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Michael Taliana
My name is Mr.Taliana and I am your child’s 8th-grade mathematics teacher. I was born in Manchester, England. I immigrated to the USA with my family when I was 16 years old and completed my last year of high school in Michigan and New Mexico. After graduation, I moved to California and joined the U.S. Navy. I then worked as an electrician, engineer and project manager. While working full time during the day I started to teach students at a Mesa college to become electricians in the evening. It was here that my love for teaching was born. I am also an avid soccer fan who loves to coach soccer.
I am happily married with two children. My son is attending his fourth year at Baylor University in Texas studying mechanical engineering. My daughter, a former Lincoln Panther, is attending her first year Illinois Tech where she is studying biomedical engineering and plays soccer.
Physical Education
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Tamara Fahey
Born and raised here in North County. I Attended Palomar College for my Associates degree, then San Diego State from my Bachelor’s, Majoring in Physical education. I also attended San Diego State for my Teaching Credentials, then Cal. State University San Marcos for my Master’s in Education. Moving and being active is critical to our students and the future of their heath. In middle school our goal is to expose them to as many different activities as possible, in the hopes of them finding at least one area of activity that they can carry on into their adult life’s. We are also, working to incorporate more heath into the curriculum, to help students understand how being active is an important part of their health.
tamara.fahey@oside.us
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Joey Rota
A North County native who enjoys teaching as well as spending time at the beach, the mountains, and on the golf course. Studied Kinesiology and received a teaching credential from CSULB. Soon after, added a Mathematics supplement through examination. Has been teaching a combination of Physical Education and Mathematics for 12 years and counting. Currently teaching 8th Grade PE.
joey.rota@oside.us
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Ben Rubin
My name is Ben Rubin. This is my first year teaching Physical Education at Lincoln Middle School here in Oceanside. In the past, I have also taught math, reading intervention, and English as a Foreign Language. Although I consider myself an all-around educator, my true passion lies in Physical Education, so I am thrilled to be teaching it here at Lincoln. I was born in Chicago, Illinois and cheer for all Chicago-based teams (Cubs, Bears, Bulls, etc.). I attended college at the University of California, San Diego where I obtained a Bachelors of Science in Psychology and minored in Educational Studies. I graduated from the Psychology honors program and went on to have my honors thesis published in an APA Journal. I then earned my Multiple Subject and Single Subject Physical Education teaching credentials through the Cal State San Marcos Middle Level program (The only teaching credential program in California that focuses primarily on middle level education). On my free time, I enjoy traveling, playing and watching sports, attending concerts, camping, hiking, and fishing. I'm looking forward to an amazing year ahead!
benjamin.rubin@oside.us
Science
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Wesley Barnett
My name is Wesley Barnett and I teach 8th grade Science here at Lincoln Middle School. This will be my first year here at Lincoln and am excited to be working in such a great community. I was born and raised in Palm Springs, CA and later moved to San Diego to attend San Diego State University. At SDSU, I majored in Political Science and originally pursued a career in the legal profession. However, after a few years in this field, I realized I preferred a career in education. As a result, I went back to school and received my teaching credential from California State University, San Bernardino and have been teaching ever since. This will be my 4th year in education and absolutely enjoy mentoring students and sharing my desire for learning. I hope to inspire all my students to have a passion for science and education in general.
When I am not teaching, I love to do anything outside, especially playing sports. I grew up playing baseball, basketball and football and am still a fan of those sports today. However, I have found new joy in soccer and tennis, which I play quite often. I hope to coach soccer at Lincoln when sports return! I also enjoy visiting the National Parks, with my fiancée Elizabeth, and hiking during the breaks. I try to see at least 1 new National Park each year! Finally, I recently adopted a puppy, Tyler, who keeps me quite busy.
“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” -Kobe Bryant
wesley.barnett@oside.us
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Deann Bloomer
My name is Deann Bloomer, I have been a teacher here at Lincoln Middle School for the past 20 years. I am proud to call Oceanside my home and currently have two boys attending school in our community. I received my bachelor's degree and teaching credential from California State University o San Marcos. I chose to teach middle school because this was the age in my life I felt positive guidance was crucial to the pressures of society around me. Receiving my teaching credential with a middle school emphasis has allowed me to “pay it forward” to the students of today. While at Lincoln I have been involved in coaching both volleyball and soccer, and am currently the acting science department chair, AVID coordinator and on the NGSS Leadership team I absolutely love this middle school, even on a bad day, this community keeps me striving to be a better teacher and mentor! I am a lifetime learner, even with my 20 years of experience, I am still learning new things daily from teaching kids. I hope to teach my students how to take each day's events to help build a brilliant future for themselves and our community. Together I believe we will learn from one another and “shape tomorrow, starting today.¨
deann.bloomer@oside.us
Click here if you are a student that needs to access Mrs. Bloomer's Website!
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Britian Bulicki
My name is Britain Bulicki and I teach 7th grade STEM (Science or PLTW on your child’s schedule). I grew up in Two Harbors, on Catalina Island which instilled in me a passion and awe for the ocean, animals, and our planet, as well as a strong sense of community. I attended California State University, Long Beach for my bachelor's degree, teaching credential, and later for a master’s degree in Science Education. This school year marks my 18th year teaching Science, STEM and/or Math. Some of my passions outside of school are the ocean, all things blue, crafting and creating, cooking, kayaking, the beach, reading, traveling both near and far, and spending time with my large extended family spread all over North America and Costa Rica. In my home, my immediate family consists of my husband, 2 yr old baby girl, basset hound Marley, cat Tiggs, guinea pig Gummy Bear, and four chickens. I am a cancer survivor, and have been involved in Relay for Life for 8 years, even running our school Flip Flop Fighters team for a few years. My love of reading has inspired me to host a Book Club which we will be meeting again this year. I also started the LEGO Club last year during the pandemic. That club will also continue this year. I welcome any parental support, volunteers, or speakers for our STEM class, Book Club, or LEGO Club.
To see this years syllabus click here
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Chris Gray
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Cameron Gurney
My name is Cameron Gurney and I teach 7th Grade Science and PLTW Engineering here at Lincoln Middle School. I love everything that is outdoors and/or science related but my passions stem deep in geology and earth science. I grew up in beautiful Washington State, living and breathing every aspect of the great northwest. I completed my undergraduate degree in Geology at Western Washington University and completed my graduate students in Science Education at the University of Southern California, Fight On!
cameron.gurney@oside.us
Click here if you are a student that needs to access Mr. Gurney's Website!
To see this years Syllabus Click Here
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Shay Johnson
My name is Ms. Johnson and I teach 8th grade science and gardening here at Lincoln. I grew up in Murrieta, California where I attended school K-12. I went to college at Cal State San Marcos where I majored in Kinesiology and later earned my teaching credential through their Middle Level Education Program in Multiple Subjects and General Science.
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Colleen Ludka
Hi, my name is Colleen Ludka and I am thrilled and honored to be a part of the Lincoln community! I grew up in San Jose, CA and earned my Bachelor degree from UC Santa Cruz in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. I spent the next 15 years working in the genomics field at UCSD, Pacific Biosciences, and Synthetic Genomics. In 2016 I received my Biology, Chemistry, Earth/Space, and Multiple Subject Teaching credentials from Cal State San Marcos. I specifically chose to work with this age group because middle school is such a critical time in children’s lives. I strive to help students realize that they each have a place in this world and that what they think and say is of great value. I do this work through the lense of science and engineering, both of which are incredibly useful tools to make sense of the world we live in. Also, science is just plain AWESOME and I enjoy sharing my passion for it with our students.
Special Education
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Liberty Heffernan
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Spencer Kirkland
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Traci Bye
traci.bye@oside.us
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Sue Dusch
Hi, my name is Susan Dusch and I'm starting my 25th year as a Special Education Teacher. This is my 19th year at Lincoln. I'm originally from New Hampshire, but moved here quickly after Grad School to get out of the cold! My husband, Ryan, and I have two sons who are both in high school. We love camping and spend a lot of our time at the beach! I'm looking forward to a great school year!
susan.dusch@oside.us
Click here to be directed to the SEAS website!
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Cheryl Matthews
Before Children I was into body building and a personal trainer at World Gym. I also did modeling commercials for World Gym. I was also an avid skier, surfer, and running a 5 or 10 K somewhere. I was always at the beach. I was born and raised in Oceanside...I'm a rare breed, true So. Cal native girl. I am an AZTEC...S.D.S.U. Alumni!! There I received my Bachelor's in Liberal Arts, Learning Handicap Credential, and Multiple Subject Credential. I went on to U.C.S.D. earning my Resource Specialist Credential. I taught in Vista Unified School District for 10 years. I missed being at the beach, and divine intervention stepped in...there was an opening at O.U.S.D. for a Resource Specialist here at Lincoln. I've been at Lincoln ever since then. Now it's all about yoga, Swami's Beach and living a healthy lifestyle. I have 2 beautiful boys...21, and 23 now. Still my babies. My oldest is a Skateboard Photographer and several adds published in THRASHER magazine. My baby is the "TECHY" in the family! He's in college majoring in technology.... to teach his Mother. I'll get there, through osmosis!! Now, my life is still crazier than ever, and even more fulfilling!
cheryl.matthews@oside.us
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Joe Soto
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Erika Weinthal
My name is Erika Weinthal and I have been teaching Special Education for 15 years. I absolutely love working in the middle school environment and couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I am a native San Diegan...I grew up in Del Mar and Cardiff and got my teaching credentials from CSU, San Marcos. I lived and taught in WA State for 7 years, where I got my Masters in Ed Leadership. I have a 4-year old daughter, Lucy, as well as a 3-month old Goldendoodle puppy, Bodhi, who both keep me on my toes! When I'm not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my husband, daughter, and friends at local parks/beaches and exploring new restaurants in North County.
SpEd Paraprofessionals
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Rebecca Moulton
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Elaine Joseph Rowe
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Andrea Herman
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Erin Denaro
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Audrey Molifua
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Rosie Jordan
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Karina Garcia
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Carlos Dominguez
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Della Brown