Welcome back to the 2025-2026 Pitman High School year. I am glad to see all your beautiful faces around campus! Remember to never let a year of high school go to waste. I strongly encourage you to join many clubs and have fun this school year. Make the best of these years, as it truly does go by fast, and I am saying this as a Senior.
I will start my article off by asking a student of the Pride pack, what they think and how they feel about this school year.
Me: Hi, thank you for letting me interview you Naomi. Is it okay if I record this interview so I can look back on it later?
Naomi: “Sure.”
Me: “I am interviewing you about the 2025-2026 school year and how you feel about it. What grade are you in?”
Naomi: “I am in 12th grade.”
Me: “Ooh nice, what do you like about school?”
Naomi: “A few of my classes, and friends.”
Me: “Cool, what about that makes you like school?”
Naomi: “Well my classes are kind of fun and entertaining so I can pay more attention in them.”
Me: “What don’t you like about school?”
Naomi: “School lunch, and sometimes there are a few people that can get away with some things that others can’t”.
Me: “Why not?”
Naomi: “The school lunch sometimes has raw on the meat part of the fruits that were rotting. As for the part that people get away with some things others can’t, I think this is really unfair.”
Me: “Oh? Can you tell me how you feel about this school year so far and what you expect later on?
I think this is going to be a great year. It has been going good so far except for the lockdown we had. I expect chaos later on.”
Me: “Wow! Okay, why do you expect chaos??”
Naomi: “It is pretty hard to control or anticipate behavior from teenagers.”
Me: “Okay, okay. Thank you very much. Well that’s all the questions I have for you, is there anything else you’d like to add? Comments, Questions, Statements?”
Naomi: “Nope.”
Me: “Alright then, thank you and have yourself a very amazing day.”
We will also be interviewing a Teacher of the Pride pack. The teacher is Ms. Simmons.
Me: “Hi, and thank you for letting me interview you today, I have a set of questions I would like to ask you. First off, is it okay if I record this conversation to look back on later?”
Ms. Simmons: “Of course, Annie.”
Me: “Alright, thank you for letting me interview you Mrs.Simmons, first off I wanted to ask, how are you doing today?”
Ms. Simmons: “Good, how are you?”
Me: “Good, thank you for asking. So, Mrs. Simmons, how long have you been a part of PHS?”
Ms. Simmons: “I’ve been teaching for 21 years. I taught special ed for 10 years at Paterson and I did the elementary and then I went to Turlock and I got highered at Brown Elementary for 6 years and I did special ed over there for 4th grade. Then I moved over here to Pitman and I’ve been teaching for 6 years. Why did I start teaching? I started teaching because I’ve always liked kids and children. First I did not want to become a teacher. My dad was a teacher and a lot of my family members but I wanted to work in an area that was with children. So I was a child development major in the beginning and I am like what can you really do with being a preschool teacher? No, I should just go into the teaching field. I originally wanted to be a general education teacher but I got interviewed for a Special ed position in Patterson and I have just been there ever since. I don’t really think I want to do general education but I have the option but I like teaching high school.”
Me: “Ooo, and that moves me on to my next question: Why did you choose to become a high school teacher?”
Mrs. Simmons: “Uhm, well it kind of felt that I had to go over here uhm, I was a little intimidated by highschoolers because I was like “How am I going to help them? Am I going to be able to help them?” I was a little intimidated but now I just love it. You guys are like mini little adults that I can have conversations with. I like to meet other kids in different classes.”
Me: “Do you have any advice for the high school students?”
Ms. Simmons: “I know it is hard but just push through. Highschool is just a small part of your world, there is a lot more after high school so enjoy it. This is just a short bit of high school, then it’s a whole new world.”
Me: “What are you most excited about this year?”
Ms. Simmons: “Getting the seniors through, the whole year, new staff, working with new people, I don’t know, I like just being here everyday.”
Me: “Do you have any advice that someone gave you that you want to share?”
Ms. Simmons: “My mom always said finish what you started power through, if you don’t do it no one is going to do it for you so just power through it.”
Me: “Awesome quote. If you could eliminate one thing from your teaching routine what would it be?”
Ms.Simmons: “Procrastination! Getting things done ahead of time instead of waiting till the last minute when I am all tired to do it.”
Me: Okay, thank you, one last question, do you have any questions or comments you would like to ask or say?”
Ms.Simmons: “Nope that is all, do you have any more questions for me?”
Me: “Nope that’s all, thank you for your time.”
Ms. Simmons: “Of course Annie come back if you need anything”
Now that I have their opinions on this school year, what do you think? Your opinion matters. Anyways, I hope you have an EXCELLENT rest of your school year. As always, Never settle. Never quit. ROLL PRIDE!