When students come back from lunch, they’ll often see the history teachers sitting out in front of their classes chatting it up in their colorful chairs. It’s pretty apparent that they have a good bond. They even match on some Fridays. I interviewed teachers and students around the school and asked what
they thought of the department and if they thought they were a clique.
Sophomores Maya Bones and Ava Zavala find the history teachers’ bond to be mostly heartwarming. “I think it’s kind of cute and sweet,” Zavala said when I asked her if she thought they had a clique. “It is a little intimidating seeing all of them in the front sometimes though.” “No other department could pull it off if they tried, it’d be copying,” Bones said about when they twin with their outfits.
Senior Maria Williamson thinks their group is similar to other high school groups on campus as well. “They are clicky, but it’s cute. I feel like they would be the popular kids when they were in high school,” Williamson said.
When asked if she thought the English department could pull off twinning, English teacher Athina Lazaridis said,
“The history teachers have a clique? No, I never noticed,” she jokingly said. “I think that it’s adorable and that they were probably the cool kids in high school like the football players and cheerleaders. I don’t think the English department is as cool,” she said.
We checked in with the Principal Ron Perry, himself a former history teacher at Eureka High.
“I would say that they aren’t just bonded within the department. They have bonds with other individuals too,” he said. “I don’t know if they would call themselves a clique. They would call themselves a department, obviously, and they would call themselves friends.” Perry discussed the importance of having friends at work. “Teachers have one of the hardest jobs,” Perry said. “When teachers bond, they develop that sort of trust and collegiality. Then it makes the hard work easier because you are working not only with your peers but with your friends, the people who you can lean on, count on, and trust.”
When speaking to the history teachers about the generalizations made about them I got similar answers.
When asked if the history teachers would classify themselves as a clique, Owen Moore said,
“If being a clique means you enjoy being friends with your colleagues, then I guess we are a clique. I would call us a dream team instead.”
Jennifer Rosebrook when asked the same question said,
“No, I think we’re a great group of close friends. I really don’t care if people perceive it that way. But I don’t see it that way at all.”
Jeff Mielke stated in our interview that:
“We are very close, I’m basically codependent. I would call us a clique, I guess, if it doesn’t have negative connotations.”
To those who think they are scary and intimidating when they are all out in front of the school, Moore said,
“Is friendship intimidating? Is sharing a meal intimidating?”
