by Amanda Ice, staff writer
Monika Whitman, guidance specialist for over 30 years, has decided to retire after December, or when the semester ends. Whitman’s reasoning for retiring at this specific time is based on her not wanting to leave the students without the classes of their choice. She noted that retirement has been on her mind for a few years, but, this past year her long awaited decision took permanency after deciding to take care of the incoming senior class as her final bit of closure and help.
Despite Whitman wanting to help settle all of the class schedule problems, Whitman stated that due to the Aeries portal, second semester cannot be accessed to change classes right now. In remission for not being able to “officially” change schedules, she has decided to take names and requests down on a clipboard to secure a chance for students to get the classes they want when the new guidance specialist takes over next semester.
Fountain Valley High School, in Whitman’s opinion, has been wonderful. She says that being at the school was her dream job, with few sad moments and many happy ones. She stated that it will be very difficult to leave.
“It’s a great place for students and for everyone that works here. The community has been great and there’s obviously been changes since the 1980s but they’ve all been for the better, not for the worse,” said Whitman. “900 students is a huge caseload, but that’s just the way it works, you have to make it go. The next person should be open and non-judgmental to everybody; I’d do the same for the kid with the 1.8 GPA at the same importance as the one with a 4.2 GPA. Everybody is the same. “
Long awaited retirement plans and trips are certainly on Whitman’s mind. After her leave, Whitman says that she wanted to do something to where she could see gorillas, which students “all know she loves”. She said she used to want to go to Africa to see them in the wild, but might hold off due to the troubles overseas. Whitman said that now she plans on spending her time volunteering for something where she could still be with teenagers. On the other hand, the deserved retiree is looking forward to being able to run and walk every morning instead of only on weekends. Whitman also wants to adopt a dog and train it to be a search and rescue dog or a companion dog. She said she doesn’t want any plans until she makes her own plans.
“Come in and introduce yourself and if they’re not able to help you because they’re brand new, any of the other guidance specialists will be more than helpful in assisting,” said Whitman. “[The new guidance specialist] may be someone who’s worked at other high schools or someone with no experience; just make them feel welcome and work with them and be pleasant and you won’t have a problem.”
