What are LSC-CyFair’s former Falcons doing now? We are excited to share the academic and career success stories of a new alum each month here in Cy’s Spotlight. On occasion, we will also include successful achievements about our Falcon faculty.

John Burghduff

February 2026: Since the third grade, John Burghduff wanted to be a teacher and, in the fall of 1975, he stood in front of a classroom as a high school substitute geometry teacher. He has now been helping students truly understand mathematics for 50 years, with the last 22 years at LSC-CyFair.

“My aunt was a college professor, my mother was a librarian, my grandmother and her sister both taught in one-room schoolhouses in the 1920s and 30s, so education was something of a family business. Now, both of my nieces are public school teachers,” said John.

With a genuine belief in the power of learning, John is proud to have seen numerous former students become successful teachers at the K-12 level, including two who are now full-time college professors of math.

In 2003, John joined LSC-CyFair as a founding faculty member, has been a two-time Faculty Excellence Award recipient (2005 and 2014), and, as Math Department chair, has hired several adjunct instructors who now teach full time at LSC-CyFair. He also supports students at LSC-Westway Park Technology Center and in the Academic Success Center.

What keeps John in the classroom doing what he feels privileged to still do? The students.

“Those who come up to me at the end of the semester, sometimes with tears in their eyes, to tell me this is the first time they have ever made an A in (or maybe the first time they have ever passed) a math class,” he said. “And the students who change their major to something that they have always wanted to do but had been afraid to try because they thought they couldn’t do the math.”

Why math? “What could be better than teaching something you love? … I discovered that I loved helping other people understand new concepts and that I could help people feel safe and supported, even if they were anxious about mathematics.”

And five decades later, he believes this is the career he was built for and will continue doing as long as he remains in good health and has fun because - “Each year, I love teaching even more than I did the year before.”

Leonardo Castillo

January 2026: A passion for photography that began as a child capturing images on his mother’s flip phone became a career in visual and cinematic storytelling when Leonardo Castillo graduated from LSC-CyFair in 2023 and founded his own production company, Lion Castle Studios (@lioncastlestudio).

As a first-gen college student, Leonardo earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in Video and Post Production (Magna Cum Laude) offered through LSC-Westway Park Technology Center.  

“I think what also makes Lone Star’s Video and Post Production program unique is leaving the program with a portfolio,” Leonardo said. “It was one of the most important pieces to have because I could use that in my search for other video production gigs.”

Additional benefits of his degree program included working hands-on with equipment, collaborating with other creatives on and off campus, and the personal 1-1 interaction with professors, he said.

One of the highlights of his program experience was creating a 10-second clip of his class getting hit by a car as part of an After Effects class project.

“If you’re a movie lover like I am, it’s so rewarding to re-create the special effects we see in action films in a school parking lot like we did,” he said.

The biggest lesson Leonardo said he learned while in college was to take risks and try things because “the worst that can happen is realizing it's not for you.” He also advises giving more than what’s expected because someone will notice the passion and hard work.

“Lone Star impacted my career by giving me the confidence I needed to go out and advertise my skills as a professional,” said Leonardo, who is focusing on his director of photography and producer skills.

Once in the industry, Leonardo realized he wanted to do every part of filmmaking such as pre-, pro- and post-production. Working on a wide range of film and photography projects, including with Actuality Abroad, he travels extensively as reflected in his freelance portfolio with work in Bangkok, Paris, London, Las Vegas, Atlanta, New York and Wisconsin.

“What I love the most about my job position is that I get to work on so many different projects with different crews, which help me stay excited about the next project,” he said.