By Uy Pham
The animation program will not be continuing at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) this 2023-2024 school year. Jundek Jong, the previous animation teacher, did not return to FVHS this school year, and no replacement teacher was hired.
The main reason for the discontinuation of this long-standing arts education program was overall declining student enrollment.
“Because of the decline in [student] enrollment, we have been across the board releasing teachers— temporary teachers,” FVHS Principal Paul Lopez said. “Animation was a program we wanted to [continue]. The teacher we had in mind was only scheduled to get a part-time contract, so she found full-time employment at another [school district].”
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, this declining student enrollment has been occurring state-wide since the COVID-19 pandemic began. California schools have lost 5% of students since the pandemic began, which in turn affects the funding school districts receive.
For the first time in over two decades, FVHS will not offer any animation courses. The robust animation program began at FVHS in 1995 under the direction of former FVHS arts teacher Michael Eich. According to the FVHS Course Guide, the animation class would teach students about the history of animation and skills such as storyboarding, character development, perspective and color theory. Students could submit work to both colleges and festivals for feedback.
“The program started because I saw this very strong vocation. Most of our society has moved to a digital and graphic society,” Eich said. “Kids are always looking for classes that get them to places they want to go. [Animation] is not just drawing and painting … The average animation, even a short one, has around 400 people.”
According to Eich, the animation program began with around 10-15 interested students merged into an Art 1 class. The program slowly grew over the years to two periods and last year, FVHS hosted three periods of animation classes. Eich continuously developed the program over the years but also credited Jong for implementing computer animation skills into the classes.
This growth of the animation program correlated with the growth of arts education at FVHS. The visual arts department began with two teachers, Eich and current department chair Kami Bigler. Before Jong left, the art department had six full-time visual art teachers which Eich said was one of the largest art departments at any Orange County public high school.
Eich explained that the animation classes helped a variety of students, even those not going into art careers. He believes that vocational classes are crucial to high school students; these classes help provide career skills and opportunities outside of the typical academic classroom and college pathways.
“If you like to paint cars and you’re good at what you do, you’re going to make plenty of money,” Eich said. “If you are good at what you do and like what you do, people are going to come towards you and look for you.”
One of Eich’s former students includes current FVHS history teacher Darios Felix. Felix represents the students who took art classes and now pursue it as a side passion.
“As a kid, I loved drawing a lot and I wanted to do more with it. Animation was in the art classes, and it seemed like a lot of fun,” Felix said. “Art helps me when I’m drawing on the board as it pertains to the subject I’m teaching [or] in my free time I sketch sometimes. It puts my mind somewhere so that I can focus slightly differently and process the information better.”
On Nov. 8, 2022, California voters approved Proposition 28 (Prop 28), which required California to establish new programs for art instruction in schools. A portion of each school’s funding must be dedicated to arts in schools.
Lopez explained that FVHS is putting the funding towards expanding current programs in new directions.
“One of the plans is to build a kiln by the ceramics area, and that’s a $100,000 project,” Lopez said. “80% has to go to staffing … The law says we have to expand on something new. We can pay for the assistant coaches of our performing arts so that the booster clubs [do not have to and] have more money to put back into the program.”
Regarding the animation program, FVHS did try to find solutions to continue the animation program this year. The Huntington Beach Adult Education School would have funded three sections of animation, but there were difficulties in finding a part-time teacher.
The hope is the animation program will return to FVHS in the next school year.
“We’ll put a pause on animation for now … We have a year to recover to do some recruiting and make sure we have someone who wants to come here on a full schedule and funded by Prop 28,” Lopez said. “We need to continue to market our education experience from all facets, whether it be arts, athletics, activities or academics.”
