By Arielle Nguyen
As Christina Meade, Fountain Valley High School’s (FVHS) new animation, intro to art and ceramics teacher, strides through the campus, every student can feel the passion and excitement radiating from her smile. Meade, a fellow Huntington Beach Union High School District alumna, brings her joy in teaching — all in the first year of her official career.
“I just wanted to teach art all along,” Meade said. “I became interested in teaching art because of my art teacher that I had in high school … she was super inspiring to me.”
Having been surrounded by art from a young age as well as taking inspiration from her high school art teacher, taking on this career path had always been a “no-brainer.” Meade pursued art education and received her teaching credentials from California State University, Long Beach. However, she specifically chose animation for the variety.
“Animation is such an amazing and fun subject … because you’re taking those fundamental art skills, and you’re adding a dynamic element into it. [It’s like] storytelling,” Meade said. “[Animation] is just a fun way to express yourself [and] learn new skills, and those skills can be applied to different paths in your future as well.”
Animation had previously been put on hold in the 2023-2024 school year because of declining student enrollment. However, Meade does not let the lack of participation dampen her excitement about teaching. A few of her students had taken the course previously, so she hopes to assist them in improving the skills they ended on. In addition to expanding their animation skills, she plans to host guest speakers.
On top of animation, Meade teaches intro to art and ceramics.
“I like having variety in my day,” Meade said. “I love to do different things throughout my day … so if I was teaching one class all day long, I might get a little bit bored … [Switching classes] keeps me on my toes and just gives me a lot of differences.”
Outside of teaching, you can find Meade hanging out with friends and family and — you guessed it — doing art! However, she believes that the passion to create does not have a concrete, defined path.
From the arts to STEM, she hopes that students will find a career that gives them happiness.
“Do what you love, love what you do,” Meade said. “With art [and other careers], if there’s something that you’re passionate about, do some research, find out what kind of things you can do with it … there are many options you can choose.”
