Groups from
schools all over the South travel to Auburn University for a few days during the
summer to participate in the yearbook camp that the Jostens publishing company
holds there every year. Logan Byars, Heather Fuller, Jacob Turner, Mrs. Turner,
and I were the representatives for Faith at yearbook camp this past summer. We
stayed in the Auburn University Hotel and Dixon Conference Center and began to plan and put together
this year’s yearbook. Every day of camp
was packed with classes; we learned quite a bit, came up with many creative
ideas for our next yearbook, and got a good start on putting together the
yearbook. One might think yearbook camp
wouldn’t involve much hard work, but it did. We used every minute we could get
to work on next year’s yearbook, and stayed up late working on it every night.
We decided on a theme, developed it, designed a cover, and made several pages.
We each put a lot of time, effort, and thought into making the 2007/2008
yearbook even better than any of Faith’s previous yearbooks.
On the last day of camp two competitions took
place: Best Over All and People’s Choice. The winners of each competition were
to receive a plaque and one thousand dollars toward their yearbook. Each
participating school gave a power point presentation of the work they had done
on their yearbook to be judged; people who worked for Jostens decided the winner
of Best Over All, and the students from each group decided the winner of
People’s Choice. As we gave our presentation we could hear some of the people in
the audience talking about how much they liked what we had done; we didn’t hear
any negative remarks about our presentation. We were voted the winner of the
People’s Choice competition (our pretty plaque is hanging on Mrs. Turner’s
wall). We were so excited!
We can’t give out much information about the coming yearbook, but we can
say that we’ve decided to use some original artwork and writings made by Faith
students. Work can be submitted to Mrs. Turner or a member of the journalism
staff. It is not guaranteed that every person’s work will be used, but everyone
will receive a fair chance. We aim to make this yearbook more personal and
special to each person included in it. Over all, camp was a great experience,
and I can’t wait to see the results of all the things we learned and
accomplished there.
"Returning"
Think for a
moment. Imagine you’ve graduated from high school and college. You’re an adult
with many responsibilities, you’ve taught for a few years, and you decide to
take a teaching job at the high school you graduated from. You find yourself
teaching alongside some of the same teachers that taught you. You’re teaching
students whose older siblings were your friends in high school. You’re also
teaching students who went to school there with you before you graduated. What
would it be like?
Two of our
new teachers – Mr. Borrero and Mr. Hawbaker - are doing exactly that. Mr.
Borrero, who graduated from Faith in 2001, is teaching Spanish and some history classes as well as
leading our new history club, and Mr. Hawbaker, who graduated from Faith in
2000, is teaching a couple of other history classes as well as coaching our
soccer and junior high basketball teams. I got the opportunity to interview both
of them.
This is Mr.
Borrero’s first full teaching job; he has taught some classes and done an
internship elsewhere. He described teaching here as “weird.” He said that he’s
more emotionally involved in Faith because he remembers being where his students
are and feels like he knows what the experience is like; he described it as
feeling almost like a big brother to his students. He also said that he has a
good idea of how to go about teaching because of teachers he’s had before. Mr.
Borrero also said that teaching at Faith is, in a sense, what he expected; it
takes about twice as much work as before to plan appropriately because of the
number of classes he’s teaching, the parents are generally supportive and
involved, and most of the students are well mannered. He hopes to get settled
into a routine soon, and he’s excited about starting the history club which he
expects will endure. Mr. Borrero wanted to start the history club because there
aren’t many clubs here at Faith, and he fondly remembers being a part of the
Latin club when he was in high school. Mr. Borrero also remembers Mr. Hawbaker
from high school (he went to his senior prom with Mr. Hawbaker’s sister); he
said it was “neat” teaching with somebody he formerly went to school with.
This year
is Mr. Hawbaker’s fourth year teaching, and Faith is the third school he’s
taught at. He said that teaching here has both pros and cons, but definitely
more pros, and he views his new job as a “God – given opportunity.” Mr. Hawbaker
said he’s enjoying working with people that taught him and he remembers
attending school with some of the faculty members’ kids. But he isn’t exactly
thrilled about the pictures some of his students have seen of him from high
school (for example, his senior portrait on the alumni wall beside the church
office) or the reputation he had in high school as someone who didn’t take much
seriously. He said that so far teaching at Faith has been even better than he
expected. He likes having an office and coaching sports he once played. Mr.
Hawbaker described his position here as
“unique,” since he graduated from Faith, goes to Faith Presbyterian
Church, and is now teaching at Faith. He
said that he’s excited to be here and looking forward to having a good time.