English Composition
Amelia Marini is a full-time faculty member in the English Division at Cuesta College. She completed her Ph.D. in English at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2021. Especially influenced by writers and forerunners of the early American tradition, her scholarship, published most recently in Close Reading the Anthropocene (Routledge 2021) and Jonathan Edwards within the Enlightenment: Controversy, Experience, & Thought (V&R 2020), explores the dynamic, interpersonal, conversational, and even spiritual nature of reading and being read. Her most recent writing projects revolve around the question of friendship, and whether we can speak of the act of reading as one of the many forms that friendship takes.
At Cuesta College (in addition to her teaching) she also coordinates the publication of Cuesta’s student literary and arts magazine, Tellus, and helps plan and facilitate professional development opportunities for faculty. She is committed to the ongoing practice of deepening her pedagogy in equitable and creative ways and has so much appreciation for the dynamic community of educators teaching at Cuesta College. Outside of her work for the college, she is a halfway-decent bread baker, an amateur ceramicist, a wannabe gardener, and a mother to a boisterous toddler.
Sarah Miller is a full-time English instructor at Cuesta College. She earned her PhD in 20th century American literature from Arizona State University; her literary scholarship focuses on environmental justice and ecopoetics. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing: Poetry from Florida State University. Her first collection of poems Winged was published in 2017 by Finishing Line Press and her chapbook Honey My Tongue was published by Palooka Press in 2014. Her co-written chapbook Dear Charis: will be published by Finishing Line Press in Fall 2026. Her poems have appeared in Rattle, Waxwing, Cimarron Review, Bayou, Missouri Review Online, and others. She is currently working on her second collection and a project translating poems from Italian.
At Cuesta, she often teaches Academic Reading and Writing; Critical Thinking and Writing Through Literature; and Creative Writing. She is a co-editor for Tellus, Cuesta’s literary and fine arts contest and magazine. She is the faculty advisor for the Creative Writing Club. Away from Cuesta, she is an assistant girls basketball coach at a local high school. She and her husband are parents to two daughters and a dog. She loves watching sports (especially basketball and baseball), traveling, and reading/listening to books.
Public Address
Amy Ward earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from California State University, Long Beach and her master’s degree from California State University, Northridge. A proud graduate of Cuesta College and a San Luis Obispo native, she is deeply connected to the local community she serves.
Amy has spent the past 13 years teaching at both Cal Poly and Allan Hancock College. She teaches Public Address, Small Group Communication, and Intercultural Communication. Her teaching centers on empowering students to find their voice and build confidence as communicators, equipping them with skills that extend far beyond the classroom.
Outside of teaching, Amy enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, being outdoors, and seeking out live music.
John Patrick is one of the directors of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s internationally acclaimed debate team and an adjunct instructor of communication at Cuesta College. He has seen speech and debate success as a competitor and a coach, and was a founding advisory board member of the U.S. Universities Debate Association. While competitive success was once his primary focus, He now views intercollegiate speech and debate as a platform for community service and civic engagement. He frequently collaborates with Kenneth Newby, Esq., director of the Morehouse College Debate Team, to bring speech and debate workshops to colleges in developing nations. Their work promotes nonviolent conflict resolution in countries striving for democracy and was the subject of the 2021 documentary Debaters Without Borders.
His most recent professional project is serving as the curriculum and pedagogy director for the Sierra Sustainability Summit, a multi-day experiential learning focused on balancing sustainable land management practices and increasing equitable access to public lands for non-traditional visitors. Participants tour Yosemite National Park for two days with field experts before participating in a present-and-defend style case competition judged by officials with policy implementation power.
Intro to Statistics
Anne Woods has two degrees in Mathematics from the University of North Dakota, both a bachelor's and a master's degree. After school, she returned to California and started teaching. During this time, Anne has taught at Cuesta College, Napa Valley College, Cal Poly University and Allan Hancock College, teaching at both the community college and university level. She has been at Cuesta College for 21 years and has taught classes ranging from Algebra to Calculus and Statistics. Away from school Anne has a passion for her family, gardening and animals. She believes it is important to create a work, school, life balance.
Mike Kinter has been teaching math at Cuesta College since the 20th Century (1999). He earned a BA in Math from UC Berkeley and a MA in Math from the University of Houston. Before teaching, he worked for NASA on the Space Shuttle Program, and worked as an actuary for an accounting firm in San Francisco.
Besides teaching math at Cuesta, Mike coaches track and cross country and teaches Spin at his local gym in Morro Bay. His other passions include poker and golf. Mike also enjoys hiking with his dogs, and doting on his wife and cat.
World Music Appreciation
Dylan Johnson has taught music appreciation at Cuesta College since 2008. He is also the director of jazz combos at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Johnson graduated with honors from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music (M.M. Jazz Studies) and Berklee College of Music (B.M. Jazz Composition/Performance), and is a Cuesta College alumnus. As an in-demand bassist on the Central Coast, he has performed with Orchestra Novo, San Luis Symphony, Lompoc Pops Orchestra, and the San Luis Chamber Orchestra, as well as regular performances with Inga Swearingen and Charlie Shoemake. Johnson often accompanies touring jazz artists such as Ernie Watts, Pete Christlieb, Gary Foster, Bob Sheppard and others. He returned to California after spending years in New York City, playing with jazz luminaries John Abercrombie, Adam Nussbaum, Shunzo Ono, Ray Vega, and others. Recent recordings include "Unity," featuring Randy Brecker and Ada Rovatti.
Art Appreciation
Leah Halliday is an art appreciation instructor with a strong academic foundation in art history. She earned her bachelor’s degree in art history from University of California, San Diego and completed her master’s degree at the Academy of Art, San Francisco, where she further developed her focus on visual culture and critical analysis. Her academic training informs a teaching approach that emphasizes close looking, historical context, and the role of art in shaping and reflecting cultural experience.
In the classroom, Leah is committed to fostering an inclusive and engaging learning environment where students develop both visual literacy and confidence in interpreting works of art across diverse cultures and time periods. She encourages students to connect formal analysis with broader social, political, and historical themes, helping them understand art as a dynamic and meaningful form of communication.
Beyond teaching, Leah is dedicated to continually refining her pedagogy through creative and equitable practices. She values collaboration with colleagues and strives to create opportunities for students to engage with art in thoughtful and accessible ways. Outside of professional work, Leah is an avid traveler with a deep curiosity for new cultures and experiences, enjoys baking, and values spending quality time with her family.