This year, SCHS has welcomed many new staff members to the campus. In the accompanying q & a’s, we take a look at their high school experiences and learn a little bit more about them. Below is a Q&A with history teacher Emily Haven.

Q: What did you want to be growing up?

A: I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.

Q: What high school did you go to?

A: I went to Monta Vista High School, in Danville, California.

Q: What were you involved in?

A: I was a choir geek, so I was in the choir classroom two to four periods a day. I ran track, and  played soccer for my school’s teams.

Q: What was a typical outfit for you in high school?

A: I went through a couple phases. At one point I thought I was a skater, punk girl, so I wore a lot of Hurley stuff.

Q: What advice would you give to your high school self?

A:  I would say, “Don’t worry so much about the small ‘high school stresses,’ because the big picture is a lot more important.”

Q: What was your most memorable high school experience?

A: The tour my choir group took around California. We attended competitions, and it was fun and totally different than anything I’d ever done before. I made a lot of really good friends that I’m still friends with today.

Q: Who’s your favorite musician? Why?

A: Sara Bareilles. She was in a college acapella group, and I lovethat she is both trained and untrained. Her music is really authentic. She doesn’t cover it up with sound effects. She’s just a goofy person and I really like that about her.

Q: What’s your favorite book? Why?

A: The Giver, by Lois Lowry. It’s about this society where they’re trapped in this world, and everything’s black and white. Their lives are staged.  It’s all very regimented. This little boy gets selected to experience and feel everything on behalf of the rest of society. He had to find himself, but he also took it upon himself to put everyone else before himself.

Q: What’s your most memorable teaching experience?
A: I had a student that had an F in the first quarter of my class. She was not engaged, not doing anything, so I pulled her aside and talked to her. She opened up a little bit, and she had so much going on. I told her she was capable of a lot more than what she was giving me. She turned it around in like 10 weeks, and had an A in my class. She just needed someone to believe in her. It was really inspiring to see a student going in the wrong path turning it around and taking reign of her life.