Rising Stars: Meet Stefanie Bautista

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stefanie Bautista.

Hi Stefanie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today. 
Born and raised in LA as a curious kid, I always wanted to be a helper. I moved around a lot throughout the city, from Koreatown to Glendale, Eagle Rock, and the Valley, and I loved that I could be transported to different cultures just in my own city. Learning that I loved all the intricacies of a metropolis like LA and knew that people were always in need, I decided that I would stay here and pursue teaching. I loved learning on all levels, whether it be as a swimmer in high school or part of service organizations, and my experience working with kids made pursuing education as a career as a no-brainer. I also loved music, comic books, anime, and just geeking out about them, knowing every possible fact about the things I loved. I didn’t know how to combine the two, but I just knew it was part of me. 

I bounced around Community College in Santa Monica and in Glendale before I received my BA in Liberal Arts at Cal State University, Northridge. College in different areas gave me the opportunity to explore the different enclaves of LA, from Little Ethiopia to Little Tokyo, the SGV, and beyond. However, as a child of immigrants, being a working student was no joke. I was a barista, coffee roaster, bookseller, grocery store employee, and even a logistics coordinator at a manufacturing plant, all while juggling my full-time status as a student. In any of these jobs, I was also always the appointed trainer when needed. Safe to say I was teaching even when I wasn’t always in the classroom. Despite all that, I reached the highest goal for myself and earned my master’s in teaching at USC. 

It was while I was going to grad school that I started working at Citizens of the World Charter School as a Teacher’s Associate to finally get some real classroom experience. I loved working with kids from Kinder all the way to 5th grade, seeing them grow and learn in a school setting that was wildly different from what I experienced at LA Unified School District. I taught 4th grade at CWC Silver Lake, and it was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. I had kids of all walks of life pass through my classroom, and I integrated my love of pop culture and music into my lessons, and it was everything that I wish I had when I was in school. 

I was given the opportunity to be an after-school enrichment coordinator, and I jumped on the opportunity after having a music production after-school class in my room. I thought, “Dang, that would be a cool job to try to find programs like this to bring to the kids.” 5 years later, I am now the Regional Manager of Student Programming for our charter school network, serving 5 Elementary schools and 2 middle schools throughout LA. I help run after-school programming, enrichment programming, athletics, and camps for about 2000 students. I have the pleasure of seeking dynamic enrichment providers from beat school and songwriting, urban gardening, comic book, and anime art workshops to yoga for littles, STEM classes, and even spoken word. I have been deeply embedded with my roots in the Historic Filipino American Community, having my home base in Historic Filipino town. 

In addition to that, I teamed up with my best friend Ariel Landrum to continue bridging the gap between our hobbies and our professions by joining the Geek Therapy Network with our podcast, The Happiest Pod on Earth. We talk about Disney mediums with a critical lens and dive into how we can use pop culture in our practices to help identify with my students and her clients as a therapist to help them in the best way possible. We have led panels at San Diego Comic-Con and Anaheim’s Wondercon, fostering important conversations about how to challenge and uplift representation and better ourselves as lifelong learners. 

Now, as a mother of two littles in a military household, I still love to travel, learn, and adapt, but LA will always be where I get my strength. My lens to the world was crafted in this city, and I am beyond grateful to be a helper in the greatest city in the world. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It wasn’t always easy to follow a career path that wasn’t normally taken by a Filipina American. I was always told I should pursue nursing first and then focus on my hobbies later. I had to always justify not making enough money and being okay with it, being tired from teaching, etc., etc. No shade to nurses; they are some of the best people in the world! My mother was a nurse for 35 years before she retired, and I spent a lot of time in the clinic after school. I just knew I wanted to experience something different. 

Navigating the school system was also hard as a child of immigrants. I had to learn how to apply for college, scholarships, student loans and juggle finding a job and working all on my own. It became a goal of mine to be a source of information for anyone who needed it, whether it be finding a job, applying for school, or even finding where to eat for first-timers in LA. 

Having to learn these processes from scratch really helped me to know how to be resourceful and not be afraid to jump in and learn in an unfamiliar environment. It’s one of the values that I highly instilled in all of my students! 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar with what you do, what can you tell them about what you do?
Currently, I am the Regional Student Programs Manager for Citizens of the World Charter Schools in Los Angeles, CA. I am responsible for managing after-school programming, Enrichment Programming, Athletics, and Camps for our 5 elementary schools and 2 middle schools. My colleague and I started Student Programs in an effort to bridge the gap between out-of-school programming and school-day programming, as we clearly see the need for communication, collaboration, and success from the time that a student arrives at school in the morning until the time they leave, which may even be in the later hours. 

As a former classroom teacher, I noticed that there were so many issues in after school that had a direct correlation to the behaviors and learning patterns in the school day. Many schools around Los Angeles outsource their after-school programming, and this leaves big gaps of communication that leaves kids without consistency. This may lead to uncertainty of safety and a cycle of lost time, which is unfortunate since after school is a place for kids to be their authentic selves without the pressures of academics. I love to introduce new hobbies the kids during after school through enrichment programming and partnerships. We have partnered with local musicians, artists, urban gardens, environmental programs, and even organizations like LA84 to elevate athletics and sports partnerships with professional teams throughout LA. 

I am most proud of bringing arts opportunities to kids that wouldn’t normally have the outlet to otherwise. Recently, I teamed up with Jay Harris of Mind of the Noise Records to bring a beat-making class to one of our schools. The group, called “The Bussin Boys,” has since recorded two songs and has performed at one of our basketball tournaments! 

I think what sets me apart from others is that A, not many people have this position in the school setting, and B, I have experience as a former TA, Lead Teacher, After School mentor, and now as a regional administrator. All of these perspectives have driven me to keep in mind that all parts of a school need to be taken care of and functioning harmoniously in order for kids to have the best educational experience possible. All decisions and projects I work on have all parties in mind, but at the end of the day, the happiness and education of kids have to be the main goal. 

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I think my favorite childhood memory is going to Disneyland with my parents. Being immersed into worlds that were only in my imagination through books and film came to life before my eyes here! Before we knew Disneyland as the behemoth it is today, it was still a treat to be able to go with both my parents working and trying to make a living here in the United States. We would pack our own food, stay from opening till close, and never buy any merchandise! But yet they still took me and my cousins anyway. I didn’t take it for granted, and I still thank them to this day for making the effort to make my childhood memorable, even though it was probably hard for them financially.

Contact Info:

• Website: happy.geektherapy.org
• Instagram: stefa_knee
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/stefanie-bautista-85959495
• Twitter: happiestpodgt
• Other: cwclosangeles.org