Friday Faces: High School

It’s Friday and that only means one thing! Friday Faces!! Today, we are thrilled to feature our extraordinary High School team. This highly qualified and dedicated men and women are responsible for equipping your students to become independent learners and to flourish in the last and final stage of the trivium, the rhetoric stage. For our readers with younger students, we welcome you to visit our High School page to learn more.

The high school world and the culture they have created on their campus wouldn’t exist without the guidance of their teachers. Let’s read on and get to know them a bit…

1. If you could add anyone to Mount Rushmore, who would it be and why?

• Pamela: To add to Mount Rushmore? I would be tempted to choose Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the United States Congress, the first black candidate for a major party’s nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party‘s presidential nomination. But I won’t choose. Because, as John Fire Lame Deer, a Lakota medicine man, said: “The whole idea of making a beautiful wild mountain into a statue… is a pollution of the landscape.”
• Paige: Definitely a woman… preferably an abolitionist and a suffragette… Susan B. Anthony, perhaps?
• Sonja: Harriet Tubman. At the moment, the U.S. Treasury isn’t committing to putting this civil rights hero on the $20 bill, so instead let’s carve a 60 foot face on a mountain to remind ourselves what courage and resilience looks like.
• Tami: I would add an ordinary American who had done something heroic but as yet unsung. To me it would be a reminder that our leaders were meant to serve the true heroes of our society-those who live, day-to-day, our cherished values and virtues.
• Nicholas: My mama because she is rad and we need a woman up there on the Mount. If the committee doesn’t agree to have Mama up there, my second vote would be MLK.
• Paul: My wife—she’s president of my heart.
• Steve: FDR probably.  He saved the US from the depression and the world from Fascism.
• Tony: Obama. Because I believe his election was a significant step in healing racial divisions in America.

2. Are you a traveler or a homebody?

• Pamela: I used to be quite a roamer and a rover– but since I moved to SLO seven years ago, I love to stay put.
• Paige: I love both. I’m equally drawn to homesteading and a nomadic lifestyle. I have a dream that someday we will turn an old school bus into a tiny house, and travel with our home.
• Sonja: Traveler with periods of homebodying in between
• Tami: Both
• Nicholas: Both. I try to be home wherever I am.
• Paul: I’m a travelbody—sort of both, sort of neither. I like having traveled more than the actual traveling, not unlike Bilbo Baggins.
• Steve: Both.  I like both a lot.  I like the experiences of travelling and wouldn’t trade it for the world (haha) but just being home without a chore or work to do is also nice.
• Tony: Both, but a traveler mainly.

3. You can have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? (ex: sushi? scotch tape? fuzzy socks? :))

• Pamela: Vision!
• Paige: Can I say time? I never seem to have quite enough!
• Sonja: Fresh strawberries. Good thing I live on the Central Coast!
• Tami: Kombucha
• Nicholas: Clean, biodegradable sponges, please. Stinky sponges hurt my mind, body, and soul. I have a lot of roommates, and at least one of them (not sure who!) is either afraid of dry sponges or lacks the hand strength to wring them out. Picking up a cold, wet, stinky sponge puts me right on the struggle bus with no return trip. H E L P !
• Paul: Time (though I’m sure Nietzsche would think that that is bad faith).
• Steve: I would choose scotch tape over sushi or socks.
• Tony: Time.

4. Would you rather have invisibility or flight?

• Pamela: Invisibility– but only if I could share it with someone else (like Harry Potter’s dad’s invisibility cloak).
• Paige: Flight! Mostly to save time (see above)
• Sonja: Flight, no doubt about it.
• Tami: Remembering Gyges and his ring, I choose flight.
• Nicholas: F L I G H T
• Paul: Flight, no question. Birds are amazing.
• Steve: My superhero skill would be the ability to remove all the Carbon from any object or thing.  I would be called “the Decarbonator.”
• Tony: Flight

5. How do you recharge?

• Pamela: I recharge by puttering in my garden, and going barefoot.
• Paige: Depends on how much time I’ve got! If I’ve just got a few minutes, I love to sit in our garden with a glass of rosé. If I have a few days, I love to camp. We do quite a bit of camping as a family, and we love going out exploring and lounging around reading in equal measure. (Plus, it allows us to unplug completely for a bit 😉
• Sonja: Reading fantasy books.
• Tami: Music, writing, study, meditative prayers (silence).
• Nicholas: I love cozying up alone with my piano and playing it freely without thinking. Sitting and walking meditation also give me quite the recharge.
• Paul: Read. Walk. Write. Eat. Read.
• Steve: I have a small battery charger for AA and AAA batteries, but could use a larger battery charger for the C and D sized.
• Tony: I like to go for walks in the English countryside and then wander into ancient churches, where I can sit alone with my own thoughts.

Thanks for sharing with us, High School staff! Readers, we hope you’ve enjoyed this series so far. We have just one last group to highlight next week so make sure to come back by! Our leadership team will bring up the rear!

A quick reminder for this coming Monday: Parent Preview Night + High School Preview Night…

is coming up on November 5th from 7-9p. If you or someone you know is interested and would like to know more about us, this is the event to go to! Parent Preview Night is for parents interested in grades preschool through 8th grade while the High School Preview Night is for high school students and their parents. RSVP using the links above or contact us for any questions. We look forward to meeting you!