Decade Teacher Part 2

As last time, we don’t know how our teachers were in high school, only as adults. We heard about two other teachers in the previous article so, here we have two more teachers’ high school stories. 

Here we have Daniel Burroughs. Daniel is a Government and Economics teacher here at Sultana High School. He feels as if this generation can have a little more school spirit. He said, “My high school had a lot more school spirit. I think that a larger majority of students were involved in school sports, rallies, and even spirit days. Also, more teachers were involved in campus activities.”

He said something that is different is the buy-in from staff and students. He says maybe this was accelerated because of the lockdowns and the pandemic, but he feels that what is different is that fewer people are willing to be involved with social events. Those were his favorite aspects of high school, but in today’s culture, he thinks we tend to isolate ourselves more often. 

Everyone has their share of good and bad moments while in high school. Daniel had one himself. He loved most of his high school years, except for when his grandma passed away. 

He explained, “My grandmother passed away during the school year when I was a Junior. I was pretty upset for a few months at school. I didn’t want to talk to anyone or do any classwork. I had an old-school iPod, and I had headphones blasting music the entire school day. Once I had grieved, I was able to get back into a solid rhythm of social life and academics, but for a solid month, I was a wreck”. 

He says he doesn’t regret anything though. Especially the lifelong friends he made.

Daniel was pretty involved with his school. He wished he was more involved with ASB but he was more involved with sports and the marching band.

One thing he loved about high school was “Friday Night Lights”. He said, “Playing football under the giant flood lights surrounded by family, friends, and classmates was beyond thrilling. There is definitely an adrenaline rush that comes from being watched by hundreds of people”. 

Overall Daniel Burroughs had an amazing high school experience. His little message for the next freshman class coming in is “Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. It can change your life in the best ways possible”.

Next, we have Krystal Garcia. She is a math teacher at Sultana. She came to school here from 1999-2003. She said things were a little different when she came here. 

Krystal explained, “We weren’t allowed to wear flip-flops or spaghetti-strap shirts.  If you left trash on the ground at lunch, you were yelled at to pick up your trash.  Shorts couldn’t be shorter than your fingertips and you couldn’t show your belly. Our passing periods were only 5 minutes. If you were late to class you were taken to tardy sweep which was in a classroom, it was basically detention. The teachers were super strict but nice. I liked most of my teachers. Very little was done digitally.  When we needed to look things up, we went to the library and used dictionaries and encyclopedias.  I remember calculating my grades for each of my classes based on the scores of my assignments to keep track of my grades”.

She then goes on to say, “Today it seems there really is no dress code, or at least it isn’t enforced, most things are done digitally, and any or all information is easily accessible because of technology. Teachers are still nice, but definitely not nearly as strict as mine were in the past. We start school way way later than I ever did!  I remember starting the first period at 6:45 am!!”

Krystal liked high school. It’s where she met her husband. He took her to prom. She had a great prom experience. She said, “The prom these was “A tale as old as time”. My boyfriend at the time is my husband today. Prom was so much fun!  We danced a little, but my best friend and I thought it was cool to just sit in the middle of the dance floor.  My husband and I had our caricature drawn, we ate a ton of good food!  I remember a chocolate fountain with strawberries.  There was a room for pictures. There was a room for fake gambling too. We had a blast!!  We drove ourselves down to prom.  My husband drove me home around 11pm. I would have hated having to ride the bus like students have to today”. 

Just like today, Sultana had senior activities when Krystal came here. Things were just done a little differently. 

She said, “I remember senior prank day, senior ditch day, I think there was a senior bowling day, and a movie day.  Most of these days were all during state testing week because all students 9-11th had to do state testing and we were on a weird schedule for like 2 weeks. I didn’t go to the bowling or movie days because I couldn’t afford to go. I wanted to go to the beach with my friends on senior ditch day, but my parents wouldn’t let me go because of a letter they received from the school saying not to let their seniors ditch on senior ditch day. I remember my English teacher, Mr. Baker was pissed that I was the ONLY senior that showed up to class and he made me grade essays”. 

Hearing about how Sultana used to be and how much it has changed is interesting. Krystal Garcia loved high school overall. Her message to the next freshman class coming in is “You can do hard things and nothing good is ever free.”