Host: Matt Watson

Topic: SCV Paseo Club, iLead Charter School Leadership

Eye On The Valley – Exercising New Leaders–  May 19th, 2023

Guests: Jen Azevedo, Amanda Fischer 

On today’s episode of Eye on the Valley, host Matt Watson brings Jen Azevedo, General Manager of the Paseo Club, for the first half of the show. Jen discusses a bit of her background, including graduating with a degree in journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and how her time there as a D1 tennis player influenced her career choice today. Having worked at the Paseo Club for 11 years, Jen discusses how she’s seen it evolve from a simple tennis club to a multifaceted fitness location for every family in SCV. They have a multitude of different events scheduled, such as Friday Night BBQ’s and Thursday Pro Tennis Exhibitions. There are also summer camps coming up for both Tennis and Pickleball.

Matt wraps up the first half by discussing some news relating to State Senator, Antony Blinken, and jokingly suggests that he go by his first initial when introducing himself, A. Blinken (which sounds similar to Abe Lincoln).

On the second half, Eye on the Valley introduces Amanda Fischer, CEO of all iLead California Schools, to discuss their groundbreaking curriculum across 6 different campuses. Amanda highlights that iLead schools face different challenges than district schools when it comes to facilitating learning; stating that they meet a child’s individual needs when it comes to learning. She then goes over the different campuses that iLead offers, such as Agua Dulce and Lancaster, and the different learning models they offer students. Later in the hour, Matt asks her about why she chose iLead as her place of employment. Amanda answers by saying that the sense of community among employees and eagerness to help those that fear they are underqualified is what makes iLead such a welcoming environment, both for its students and its facilitators.

Lastly, Matt and Producer Andrew Delgado wrap up the show with another trivia session from Big T.