The faculty at PV High is diverse. Everyone working here loves it, but not everyone had initially planned on working at a high school. Here’s what some of our faculty did before working at PV High.
Name: Jim Whalen
Teaches: Algebra 2, AVID
Years Working at PVHS: 10 years
Growing up being a teacher was the last job he “expected to have or enjoy”, as he was surrounded by a family of teachers. A naturally good student, with good grades, and big dreams Mr. Whalen had hoped to be a lawyer or a politician. He followed his dreams to get a law degree at Fordham University in New York, and then practiced as a lawyer for a while. He “hated it.” But before he “reached for the stars “ Mr. Whalen had had a number of jobs, “as soon as [he] could work [he] did.” He worked his way up from his paper route delivering the Long Island News Day on his bicycle with baskets on the back and a milk crate on the front to hold all of his papers, to laminating children’s’ books at his public library, to working for one of his old customers of his newspaper route paving driveways, and gaining him the esteemed title of “roller boy”, as he was the one who rolled the hot tar as soon as it was laid down. Moving his way up to “a ticket taker, and a popcorn maker, and a salesman, if you will” at a movie theater in his freshman year of college, as well as working at the dining halls, and eventually a Residents Assistance or RA in charge of a freshman dorm. Eventually he moved to Los Angeles and became a teacher, teaching English in Korea Town, and this “ really fun job” was what got him into teaching.
Name: Lorraine Loh-Norris
Teaches: Algebra 2, Precalculus Honors, Aerospace Engineering
Years working at PVHS: 2 ½ years
As a child, Mrs. Norris said she “thought about being a teacher, because [she] loved [her] elementary school teachers,” but as time progressed, she knew she would do something with math, as it was a passion of hers, but she didn’t know just what yet. She thought about being a doctor but then was discouraged by the amount of school it took. Inspired by some of her friends who were engineering majors in college she decided to study engineering. This sparked her 17-year career as an engineer working at 4 Major companies, all of which were very different. She worked at “IBM, Hugh’s Aircraft Company, which is now Ratheon, [she] worked at a company called silicon graphics which was the biggest computer graphics company at that time, and [she] worked at Sysco Systems.” Through these she was able to utilize many disciplines of her engineering training. At Hugh’s she did thermal analysis, as well as pursue her love of “programming and the computer science aspect,” in programming and system support, and her longest job was in Silicon graphics as customer support for a commercial computer company. This job really appealed to her because she got to, “work with a lot of customers who used their computers for lots of different applications, “ and it was her job to “go and help them figure out how they would use [their] computers for particular business or their particular field.” This allowed her to meet a lot of different types of people as well as all the applications for which their computers were being used from “Aerospace companies building satellites to laser companies building electro-optical systems, and to the entertainment industries in CGI” Jurassic Park and Terminator were made on their computers! These prior jobs help her convey to the students how math can be, and is used in the world outside of the classroom in the real world and encourage them to continue with it.
Name: Marie Kuhn
Teaches: Biology 1 Honors, Biology 2
Years working at PVHS: 9 years
As a student, Mrs. Kuhn dreamed of being a hairdresser. In her college dorms, everyone would have her cut their hair affording her a little practice but beyond that she did not pursue this dream, because it was in then that her goals changed. When she “got to college and started taking science courses,” due to her “awesome professors” she knew “that [science] was kind of what [she] wanted to do.” She started of by pursuing a career in scientific research but soon found that it was “ a little to isolating,” and in looking for a job in which she could utilize science and still be around people “ teaching fell into [her] lap.” Waiting tables at Olive Garden for 6 years, and being employee of the year there was what “put [her] through school” and before that she worked at an amusement park in New York at Portrait stands, and the Antique Photo Booth where they dressed you up and took the antique photos. Believe it or not all of these jobs helped her with her teaching as they all helped her “know how to interact with people, all different kinds of people that are happy, that are angry, that are demanding” and break out of her shy persona as well as develop patience. This lead her to her 13 year job at North High School, and then eventually here to PVHS!
Name: Paula Stapleton
Job: Guidance Counselor, Teaches: BTC
Years working at PVHS: 11 years
Initially Mrs. Stapleton wanted a job that had nothing to do with kids and was going to become a lawyer. She was accepted into Law School but decided not to go, but in no way “regret(s) [her] decision.” In High School she worked at Robinsons, which was a large department store, which became Robinsons-May, and is now a part of Macy’s as well as working at her dad’s office in the summer. In college she worked in the airlines, at “British Caledonian,” sporting her “gloves and a kilt,” and allowing her to become a world traveler. The great responsibility she had held from a young age, as well as the fact that she had always had a job growing up helped her develop great time management as well as a greater sense of responsibility. Her constant interaction with people in her prior jobs also aids her in easily being able to interact with the kids in counseling. Over all it is the “love of the people [she] work(s) with and the vibe of the school,” which makes her job here special, and one worth keeping.
Name: Teresa Hauffman
Job: College and Career Center Financial Aid and Scholarship Advisor
Years Working at PVHS: 5 years
While Mrs. Hauffman had always “enjoyed working with kids”, she too did not expect to end up working in this position. Growing up in the Central Valley, she had worked in canaries canning food, as well as grading peaches for the USDA. She had also worked in the gift department of a department store, was a lifeguard, and an avid babysitter- all of which helped her find her love of working with people. In college, however, Mrs. Hauffman majored in Environmental Science. After college she worked for a water treatment company that dealt with the food and gold mining industries. This last job afforded her much travel time within the western states, but when her kids were born she took some time off “and got very from a volunteer standpoint in PTSA, Booster Clubs, and what have you.” Through this vast amount of volunteering at various schools including PV High Mrs. Hauffman was able to find that she “really enjoyed working with the kids, and the material. So when a position became open [she] applied for it.” Her position as “a liason for the corporate offices” made her good with dealing with people, knowing what type of personality they were and how best to deal with them, and making sure their needs were met”, All of which helped her overall all in gaining her current job.