By Penny Nunes
James Marshall, the hilarious, amazing man in room 31 that teaches AP world history, coupled with on-level world history, who brightens every student’s day! Everyone who has him knows that they are always welcome into his room to talk to him about anything—serious or unserious. Marshall is always there to listen, while also teaching extremely well! Making sure all of his students are understanding, he is one heck of a teacher. Here are some fun facts about him and his high school life!
Where did you go to high school?
“Lodi High school!”
What was your school’s mascot?
“Flames—named after a grape.”
When did you graduate?
“1995, a long time ago!”
What was your favorite class in high school and why?
“I loved my sophomore honors English class, I had an absolutely incredible teacher and she made boring books interesting.”
What was your most challenging class and why?
“Chemistry for sure, I just am not great at math and science—its not my side of the brain…”
What extracurricular activities were you involved in?
“I was in a LINK Crew similar to LIFE Crew, I was also in charge of innermurals–like march madness. I played waterpolo, that was my sport. I did swimming and basketball.”
What was your favorite extracurricular activity and why?
“Waterpolo was my favorite.”
Who were your favorite bands/artists/songs while in high school?
“Oh easy!! Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Beastie Boys”
What was your favorite TV show in high school?
“90210, it was huge!”
What was your favorite novel?
“I didn’t read much, I remember the ones I hated… but not as much as what I liked. I did really liked Fahrenheit 451.”
What was your favorite movie while in high school?
“16 Candles! Number one!! My 16th wish would be to win the lottery.”
What are your favorite memories of high school?
“A lot of them would be from my senior year, the senior activities—I was on Homecoming court, senior superlatives, prom of course. And all of the waterpolo memories like going undefeated.”
What is your least favorite memory of high school?
“Probably classmates passing away; there were a couple of car accidents. When you grow in the country people make some dumb decisions.”
What time did school start and end?
“It started at 7:20… And we got out at 2:05. It gets so hot in the valley so we got out before it got too hot.”
What was your GPA?
“3.3! Not lighting the world on fire…”
Did you receive any awards?
“Homecoming court and I was always nominated for stuff but never quite won! I was nominated for best personality but I didn’t win that! Haha! The guy who won is my birthday twin. I did win first team all-league for waterpolo!”
How did you get to school (if you drove, what kind of car)?
“I walked to school and then drove but I lived very close! I drove my second 2 years [junior and senior] because we had open campus for lunch!”
Did you ever have to go to the dean’s or principal’s office? Why?
“Yes.. I got caught trying to excuse my own absence when I cut school to go to a Giants game! My punishment was I didn’t get to go to senior ditch day! All my teachers hated it.”
Did you always want to teach world history?
“No! I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. My mom was a fourth grade teacher—I didn’t really like history at all. But at Cal Poly they had amazing classes!”