Ask recent Menlo alumni which learning experiences most shaped their thinking, and English teacher Margaret Ramsey’s name is likely to come up. Over the past 16 years, she has earned deep respect from students, alumni, parents, and colleagues alike for her supportive, thought-provoking approach to helping students discover who they are and who they’re capable of becoming.

“Margaret is a phenomenal educator,” shares Upper School Director John Schafer. “She pushes her students but makes it clear she believes in them and is on their side. She gets students to think in whole new ways, not just about literature but about their goals and their lives.”

Margaret has a sticky note affixed to her desk that reads, “MAKE IT EXPLORATORY.” This simple but powerful mantra inspires everything she does, from planning lessons to creating classroom culture. “I see it as my job to create an environment that allows any student to jump in where they are, explore, and find some meaningful question or challenge within.”

As such, she pushes the bounds of what an English classroom can be. “I’m often asking myself how I can offer a spark that gets kids going and then get out of the way so they can show me what they can do or create.” Over the years, she has invited in diverse voices and experiences—a wisdom-sharing tea with grandparents, alumni book discussions, freestyle hip-hop deep dives, demos with a local graffiti artist, and even Zoom calls with M.C. Hammer and LL Cool J. These encounters bring the curriculum to life and remind students that literature doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Frankie Machado, Menlo’s beloved Middle School Learning Specialist, has a similarly powerful impact on our sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, even though he never set out to become a teacher. In fact, he resisted it. “My mom [Upper School Spanish teacher Patti Frias] was a teacher, and all her friends were teachers,” he shares. “So I grew up respecting teachers, but maybe because I was surrounded by it so much as a child, I tried to push away from it.”

He did know early on that he wanted to serve. “I thought I might be a firefighter or join the Air Force. But I took an AP Psych course and fell in love with it. I knew that’s what I wanted to study and set a goal of becoming a clinical psychologist.”

That goal shifted thanks to an insightful mentor who recognized Frankie’s joy and gift for working with children. “I know you say you don’t want to be a teacher,” she told him, “but I think you should be.” Frankie now admits, “She was right.”

In his role as Learning Seminar teacher, Frankie teaches all middle schoolers, but his impact extends much deeper. He’s a mentor, an encourager, and a champion of all kinds of minds. “I always tell my students, I’m not teaching brain science, I’m teaching really simple things—how to organize, how to build habits, how to keep showing up. But doing that every day takes real determination.”

“Frankie’s belief in students is unwavering and he always puts the individual student first—understanding where that child has been, where they are now, and where they’re going,” says Middle School Director La Vina Lowery. “He guides both students and their families through the education process, giving them whatever resources they need to navigate middle school. He even shares his own story as a child growing up with learning differences so students know he gets them and that they’re not alone.”