New teacher Christian Seal imparts her wisdom upon the class of 2029. Photo courtesy of sophomore Zack North.
As the trimester marches on, students and staff at San Luis Obispo High School may find it shocking that there is only a month left till finals. Expressions reached out to check in with one of SLOHS’s many new faces on campus this year, English teacher, Christian Seal.
Expressions: How’d you end up at SLOHS this year? What led you here?
English teacher Christian Seal: I recently relocated, I’ve lived in several places but most recently in the St. Pete area, Florida. My stepdaughter moved here about two years ago, and we came to visit her last summer. During that visit we decided we really wanted to live here.
Expressions: Is English the subject you’d consider you’re most passionate about? How long have you known you would like to teach it?
Seal: I’ve always been very passionate about reading, and later became more passionate about teaching writing, specifically when I started in education as an instructional assistant, about twelve years ago. After that, I went back to school to get my degree in English education, and I’ve never looked back.
Expressions: What was the most impactful book you read in a high school English class, and why?
Seal: I am a very varied reader. I read lots of different genres, and so for that reason, it’s always difficult for me to choose one really impactful book. I would say that the most important part of my high school English education was a teacher, who I had both as a freshman and as a senior. That teacher just really opened my eyes to allowing books to impact me, so I suppose that’s why I really can’t narrow it down to just one.
Expressions: How do you like the environment at our school? What’s your favorite part of working here?
Seal: I love the school. So far I’m just so deeply impressed by how motivated students are to get involved, and how much of what happens at SLOHS is organized and run by students. It’s truly impressive, I’ve never been in an environment that was so committed to student agency.
Expressions: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Seal: I already said that I do enjoy reading. I don’t read for fun as much as I would like during the school year because of essays, but in my spare time, I really enjoy getting outside and hiking and camping. Those are two things I’m really excited to be back in California to start doing again. I also enjoy cooking, and spending time with my husband, my son, and my stepdaughter.
Expressions: What are you looking forward to the most, later in this year?
Seal: I think just learning, working toward meeting expectations and also exceeding them. I’m just excited to grow as a teacher. As I said, I think the student body is very impressive and that’s challenging for me as a teacher since I have to kind of level up my instruction and make sure that my students are growing.
It’s great that the values the school consistently works toward are welcoming and interconnected. Tigers, if you have Christian Seal, or any new teacher, be sure to make their first trimester here as great as possible!
