Another week has flown by. Can you believe next week is the last week of January already? Speaking of next week — Monday night is our required Family Business Meeting. Don’t miss this opportunity to gather as a community and learn all that is going on with our fantastic school. January 27th, 6:30-8:30 pm, at Grace Church in downtown SLO (1350 Osos Street).
Okay, now that you have added that important event to your calendar we can get back to today — Friday!
Friday Faces are here again for you to enjoy. Today we are featuring our extraordinary High School teachers. This post does not feature all of our High School teachers, so be sure to revisit Friday Faces: More New Staff to get to know a few more of these amazing people.
What is the last movie you went to? What did you think?
- Paige: Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker. It’s easy to get picky about movies with such large fandoms, but really, even the parts I didn’t like, I loved just because it was Star Wars.
- Pamela: The Last Black Man in San Francisco by Jimmie Fails and Joe Talbot. Beautiful, puzzling, poignant, challenging, deeply moving. Story, cinematography, soundtrack, acting– all were superb.
- Sonja: The new Charlie’s Angels movie– one of my daughters loves action films, especially those with female leads.
- Paul: A Hidden Life, an impossibly gorgeous and true story of an Austrian farmer, Franz Jägerstätter, who became a conscientious objector during World War II. The film is a quiet portrait of ordinary goodness, and the many kinds of human love that make life worth living. It’s at the Palm now–do not miss it for anything.
- Tami: I really liked Christopher Robin; they captured the Pooh characters!
- Steve: Frozen 2. I didn’t think the film was as realistic as the original but appreciated it nonetheless.
What song would you say best sums you up?
- Paige: I don’t have a good song to describe my person, but I do have a song that provides some insight… “Pump Up the Jam” has been my inner theme music for about 3 years (and yes, I was a teenager in the ’90s). I resonate particularly with the line “Get your booty on the floor tonight” as I sing this at my kids about 1000x a day.
- Pamela: “Everybody is a Star,” by Sly and the Family Stone, might be my favorite song of all time. Sly and his siblings trade off singing the lyrics, which pretty well encapsulate my daily philosophy of teaching and parenting.
- Sonja: “The Elements” by Tom Lehrer. All he does is list the elements of the periodic table in random order and yet he makes it incredibly fun and amusing. I strive to teach science with the same lightheartedness.
- Paul: I want to say it’s something cool and soulful, with a rippin’ sax solo, like Springsteen’s “Born to Run”–but my wife says it’s probably more like Weezer’s “In The Garage.”
- Tami: No clue…(that’s not a song).
- Steve: “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda” – this song portrays the horrors of war quite clearly.
Is there anything you wish would come back into fashion?
- Paige: Longer Shirts. I generally prefer to keep my midsection covered, and I’m finding that a challenging task of late. (Gosh this makes me sound like my grandmother, haha!)
- Pamela: 2-tone music/ Ska– irresistible beat, unbeatable message.
- Sonja: The ruffly peasant blouse with lots of frills around the neck and wrists. I certainly wouldn’t wear it, but it would be hilarious to see everyone else look as ridiculous as I did in high school.
- Paul: Reading.
- Tami: Culottes. Just kidding.
- Steve: Crocs.
What is your favorite memory from High School?
- Paige: Honestly, mostly what comes to mind is just small moments with friends. Sitting around talking, hanging out in town, sleepovers, and the like. (And now, as an adult reflecting on adolescent development, this feels very developmentally appropriate!)
- Pamela: Field trips with the art history class: to downtown Saint Louis to study architecture, to Bellefontaine Cemetery to study the monuments and mausoleums, to the Saint Louis Art Museum to study modernism.
- Sonja: Winning a medal at the national level in Science Olympiad. Yup, I was that nerdy.
- Paul: Oh dear. School itself was pretty unmemorable. Maybe hanging out with Ms. Shotwell’s now-husband (he was mine first, Sarah) and playing rock shows with our loud, angsty bands. I spent a good portion of my actual school days hunkered in the back row, reading books that were not assigned. As I said, it was an angsty time. SLOCA kids have it so good!
- Tami: That first day I drove alone to school. Freedom.
- Steve: I really enjoyed my Military and Art History classes.
Thank you, High School teachers for participating in today’s Friday Faces and thank you for all the work you do with our SLOCA highschoolers. Have a beautiful weekend!
