Student Teacher Feature: Allison Raisner

Allison Raisner is one of the four student teachers at MBHS for the ’25-26 school year, working with Mrs. Brinkman’s classes such as AVID 12, Expository Reading and Writing, sociology, and, come spring, psychology. Raisner is currently a student at California Polytechnic University, SLO, enrolled in their teaching credential program for teaching English and psychology, as she also majored in psychology and minored in Equity and Education. Coming from a background in journalism, media, and writing, Rasiner has a genuine desire to learn and teach others why we, as humans, are the way we are. 

Raisner grew up in San Carlos, coming from a family in which both her parents were teachers. Raisner was raised in a world where education constantly surrounded her from a young age. “I’ve gotten to see their joy coming home every day from work. And I feel like that really just fuels why I want to do it also,” said Raisner. From Raisner’s childhood and teenage years spent with parents who were teachers, she later found that her adult years were now her time to follow in their footsteps. 

Through one chapter of Raisner’s life coming to a close, another was waiting to be opened: choosing Cal Poly SLO. Rasiner originally came into Cal Poly SLO as a journalism major. “I really liked being able to tell people’s stories and share different perspectives with people,” said Raisner. Raisner later realized that she might want to try out psychology as a major and found a vast passion within the subject. “I’ve always been super fascinated by how people think and why people do the things that they do,” said Raisner.

Aside from academics, Raisner found herself employed as a coach for the Swim Club at Cal Poly SLO, while also getting involved in Greek Life, as she rushed Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority and served as the Philanthropy Director for two years. Within the sorority, Raisner, as the Philanthropy director, helped plan different charity fundraisers and community service events for their chapter. “I’m an only child, and so I thought it would be really important coming into Cal Poly SLO to have a group of women who were my sisters that I could really lean on and feel supported by, and I 100% did find that,” said Raisner, describing the root of why she originally looked into rushing a sorority. 

From Cal Poly SLO to Brinkman’s classroom, Raisner has brought nothing short of a desire to build connections with students and foster new friendships, while also supporting Brinkman in the courses she teaches. Senior Elly Canas, who is in Brinkman’s AVID 12 and Expository Reading and Writing, has been working with Raisner over the course of the semester.  “She has brought nuance to the class by taking time out of her own personal life to make sure we are well prepared for something or help us out,” said Canas, and as an example of this added, “Ms. Raisner created a presentation about Cal Poly and how Cal Poly has impacted her life, added tuition and housing costs, made sure we knew about sorority houses, clubs, sports, etc.” Within Raisner’s care for students and educating them on preparing for college in AVID, she also, in general, is constantly aiming to make learning more accessible and easy to understand. “She wants to make connections with students and wants to make the content relevant, and so I think that’s a huge strong suit of hers,” said Brinkman. 

Raisner had nothing but good things to say about her experience at MBHS so far: “This is the most welcoming community,” said Raisner, “Mrs. Brinkman is one of the most engaging and supportive role models, and I’m really lucky to be working alongside her.” With both Raisner and Brinkman purely just spreading the sweetest things about each other whenever given the chance, it’s easy to tell that MBHS is lucky to have Raisner as one of our four student teachers on campus this year, and that she is sure to continue thriving in whatever she puts her mind to, whether that be in or out of the classroom. You can find Raisner across campus, whether that be teaching those in English and Psychology classes, or coaching the Swim team at MBHS.