Mayfair is full of amazing and beloved teachers, but a fresh, new face has just arrived on campus. Located in Room 207, Mr. Becker-Valle has recently arrived at Mayfair High School on September 12th, 2023 as a new English Teacher, taking the job of the previous English teacher, Mrs. Carmen Talavera and her substitute, Ms. Elizabeth Arundel. Mr. Becker-Valle’s first impressions of Mayfair High is that it’s an incredible school and he is ecstatic to be here. He’s met a lot of kids whom he thinks “have the right kind of energy, are super smart and super funny.” He is really interested in his time here at Mayfair and has enjoyed both the company of his peers and his students and looks forward to what is to come in the future.
Mr. Becker-Valle’s expectations for the future here at Mayfair seem to be very interesting and something he and his students should look forward to. Although he hasn't had the time to completely figure out what his exact expectations are as of now, he is prepared to get into some bigger and more engaging projects with all of his students the further he gets into the school year. He believes that they're going to like the things he has in store for his class but others may not. Once the time officially comes they'll eventually come to find amusement in the work that is to come in his class.
The reason Mr. Becker-Valle began teaching is very intriguing. For a long time, he didn’t want to be a teacher. Back when he was a teacher for the lower grades, he always perceived the other teachers as very tired and burnt out people, and that it was way too much work. He used to work with a third-grade elementary school teacher with whom he would always meet towards the end of the day. One day, as the class was leaving, he noticed her grading her student’s essays. He told the Windjammer, “One day I was kind of just talking with her as her class was leaving, and I saw she had a bunch of essays she was grading, and I was like, 'How's the grading going?' and her face immediately lit up. She started smiling, and she said, 'Oh my god, they're doing so well.' This teacher, who I thought was always very tired and exhausted, immediately got so happy thinking about her students and how well they were doing, and that was kind of a moment I remember thinking that it would be really cool if I had that feeling too, so that was one of the moments that I started realizing that yeah, teaching takes a lot of hard work, but hard work is pretty good sometimes if you love what you're doing.”
This moment contributed to how he interacts with his students today. He mentions that students are the best part of the job. Although the teachers he’s worked with are a great help, resource and amazing company, the students are the ones you spend the most time with. He adds, “If you don't like the students or you're not having fun with the students, then I don't think you are going to be a teacher for very long, so 100% when the students are having fun and when they are succeeding — then I got no complaints.” He thinks that a close relationship with his students is instrumental in their growth and success. He states, “I had some amazing teachers who could be those who could show me how to mature, what my interests were, or how to express myself. So if I can be that teacher for a lot of these students, then I think that's 100% what I should be doing and what I want to be.”