The Baron Banner caught up with a new teacher on campus this year. We went and asked Ms. Fisher, a new math teacher, some questions about how her year went. Check it out.

Baron Banner: How was your first year teaching here?

Mrs. Fisher: I love it. It has been my best teaching experience in twelve years.

BB: What motivated you to become a teacher?

MF: I remember my seventh grade math teacher. My grandma was a teacher and it was just a talent for me. I love watching students grow and improve.

BB: Would you like to share your most memorable moment?

MF: I remember one student I had in an essential algebra class, and he was always struggling. Then all of a sudden, one day I saw him teaching other kids how to factor using the x-method. It was so cute, because he was using the same expressions that I used. At the end of the year, he came back and told me that I taught him that he could be successful in whatever as long as he tried.

BB: Are there challenges in teaching math?

MF: Yes. There are challenges in trying to understand what students have trouble with and keeping up with the school curriculum. I call it the art of teaching with improvising.

BB: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

MF: I love playing and walking my dogs around Mile Square Park. I love crafts like sewing and scrapbooking. I also love golf, studying religion, socializing and participating at my church. I also love camping and cooking!

BB: Quick! Random fact?

MF: When I was 16, I had an early paper route that I had to leave at 3 o\’clock in the morning for. One night as I was driving, a moth suddenly hit me in the face. I jumped the curve and swerved into a tree. The city actually had to come and fix the tree the next day. (laughs) My family still picks on me about it.

BB: Are there any quotes you live by?

MF: My all-time favorite quote is from Yoda. “Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

BB: Thank you for your time!

MF: You\’re welcome!

English teachers Mrs. Baron and Dr. Poff, Math teachers Ms. Clutter, Mrs. Graff, and Ms. Tadokoro, History teacher Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Physical Education instructor Coach Berg, will all be retiring this year.

Ms. Tadokoro, the only remaining teacher who opened the school, began teaching at FVHS 43 years ago and has enjoyed her time teaching and working with students.
“I just love the people here,” says Ms. Tadokoro.“I liked it every day, but I\’m looking forward to retiring.”

Mrs. Graff and Ms. Clutter also believe the outstanding students and staff are what make FVHS a wonderful working environment.

“The students here and my faculty friends are the best anywhere,” says Mrs. Graff. “Although I\’m going to enjoy retirement, I\’m going to miss Fountain Valley High School. I\’m going to miss working with the dances and giving students a bad time on the dance floor.”

“The best thing was how my students were able to work together so well all the time,” says math teacher Ms. Clutter. “I\’m definitely going to miss my students.”
Not only was Ms. Clutter able to influence her students positively, but she was also given the opportunity to save a student\’s life.

“I was teaching one day,” says Ms. Clutter, “and one of my students went into cardiac arrest during class and I gave him CPR. He is graduating this year.”
It seems as though the students are what make teaching such an amazing experience.
“I love the kind and socially sophisticated students,” says Dr. Poff. “ I loved teaching here all these years but am looking forward to retiring.”
“A lot of schools are beautiful, but this school has the best students,” says Mrs. Baron. “I loved working with the students, and I enjoyed seeing my former students who are now in their 40s and [have stable careers]. I am glad I\’m retiring still loving my job so that I\’ll have good memories.”
While teaching at FVHS has been one long and memorable phase for many teachers, retirement is proving to be another exciting chapter.

“I was really lucky to work here at Fountain Valley,” says Mr. Fitzpatrick. “It\’s a great school, and the students are awesome. I also had a good time coaching here and working with the athletes. Now I\’m looking for the next phase of my life, although I\’m not exactly sure what it is. I\’ll take some time off and travel and read some historical novels.”
“I liked my time here coaching Varsity football,” says Coach Berg. “I had a good time working with them, but now I\’m looking forward to finally retiring.”
It\’s easier to say goodbye to teachers knowing their retirement will be just as great as their many years teaching at FVHS. Fountain Valley will never be the same without these teachers, but their lasting impact will influence the school for years to come.

Friday, March 27^th marked the second annual Staff and Alumni football game. Teachers and coaches shared the gridiron with graduating players from the Varsity football team for an energetic match-up.

Last year, the Staff won. “We are the defending champs,” explained Principal Herzfeld, “We have our pride at stake.”

The competition was intense. Neither side gained headway until senior Nyko Gonzales broke the ice with the first touchdown, thrown by quarterback Steven Santana.

The Students maintained the lead into the second half, with Santana shooting another scoring pass to Dylan Itkoff. Itkoff shared his thoughts on the competition, laughing that, “The old guys try.”

The Staff rallied with a score by soccer coach and teacher Jason Smith, passed by Football\’s Head Coach Shipp. Girls\’ soccer coach and teacher Alyson Spencer tied the game scoring a second touchdown in the final minute.

The tie led to a strong finish by the Students in Overtime. Coach Shipp threw an interception, and it was caught by Steven Santana and returned for a score. Santana quickly followed his goal on the next drive with a touchdown pass to senior Hayden Toney.

The Students won 4 touchdowns to 2, despite the valiant efforts of the FVHS Staff. 

The Barons won the first match 29-27 against the Rams.  Junior Raffi Contreras-Geck, playing in for senior Matt McCoy, did wonders for the team.  Constantly running, Contreras-Geck sent everything directly to the hitters. Captain Dillon Emery (‘09) had four kills, and senior Chris Gierhart had two kills.

On December 5, Ms. LaFramboise gave extra credit to her AP English 3 students if they watched and wrote a report on the play Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, which debuted at Rude Guerrilla Theater in Santa Ana. Our Town takes place in the early 1900s in the small, quiet town of Grover\’s Corner, New Hampshire and is about love, family, and the importance of life.

“I thought that the play was very interesting and emotional,” says junior Pinting Chen. “It was different from any other type of play I had seen.” 

“They didn\’t use many props, which emphasized the actors\’ dialogue,” says junior Moony Lee. “It made me concentrate more on the play itself.”  

A stage director acted as the narrator and gave town updates to keep the audience on track. The narrator, in a separate interview, said he wanted to make the play more interesting by having the audience see the actors as real people, and not as “characters.”  

The audience was given a chance to ask questions and take pictures with the actors after the play. “That was my favorite part,” says junior Jennifer Luong. “I absolutely loved Scott Barber, the lead actor who played George.”

 The play\’s overall message was: Don\’t forget about the little things in life because you may ultimately regret looking over them.

photo credit: illiterarty.com

By Yusra Yousef, Staff writer

Kite Runner author Khaled Housseini\’s second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is as powerful as his first. “Dense, rich, pressure-packed guide to enduring the unendurable,” TIME Magazine praises. 

A Thousand Splendid Suns tells a forty year tale of two women living in the same area in Afghanistan. Mariam is born illegitimately and later is married to an abusive and cruel man named Rasheed. Laila, who is Mariam\’s neighbor, has a completely different life. She has ambitions, opinions, and plans for an education—until something tragic happens that forces her life to take a turning point and binds the two women together.  

The book is divided into four parts. The first part focuses on Mariam, the second and third parts focus on Laila, and the fourth part alternates between Mariam and Laila.  

Hosseini\’s writing is simple yet intense. He enriches the novel with gripping events that leave no lull in the book\’s pace. Hosseini touches upon so many aspects of life, it is difficult not to relate to them.  By the time you get to the middle of the book, it\’s difficult to put the book down. And although the richly illustrated historical background is never the main focus, the presents a beautiful setting to the personal efforts and struggles of the two women.  

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a touching tale about the power of love, the bonds of friendship, the love of country, and the struggle to endure. A Thousand Splendid Suns\’ ending is unexpected and will leave the reader satisfied.  

“A Thousand Splendid Suns is an important, provocative work. The rich and violent history of Afghanistan provides a backdrop that informs and saturates the story… Hosseini has succeeded in writing another epic tale, a novel not to be missed,” says the Rocky Mountain News.  

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a must read novel, and you might even find yourself rereading the novel just to repeat the fulfilling experience the novel provides.