Wendy Fairon

I joined CCDS in 2009 as the 7th and 8th grade English teacher. I had been teaching for four years prior to joining CCDS. In 2010 while I was teaching English, I had an opportunity to write a grant for some professional learning. Our team received the grant and we began learning about and implementing PBL at CCDS. In 2015, I was awarded a fellowship from the Walton Foundation to complete my Masters in School Leadership at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. After my year in San Diego at HTH, I was excited to return to CCDS as Director of Education and currently, as Chief Executive Officer of this amazing school!

My favorite teacher was definitely my 8th grade humanities teacher. Her name is Ms. Bungard and the thing that still strikes me about her is her love for teaching and being a learner. She was the first teacher I had who made her own learning visible to us. She pushed us to think about history in different ways and allowed us to express ourselves in English class. She also gave us space to have fun and joke around. Her class was challenging, but it was a challenge I wanted to engage with. She was also really human with us – told us stories about her toilet exploding, her tofurkey Thanksgiving meal, and about her family in Walla Walla, Washington. I would have never guessed when I was a student in her 8th grade class that I would one day go on to teach 8th graders, but I can see her lasting influence in my own work with students.

When I graduated from Chico State, I moved to Rhode Island to attend Johnson and Wales University to study culinary arts. From there, I went on to manage several restaurants and work in the banquet department of Westin Hotels. It was a fun career, but I’m glad I made a shift to education. When I have time, I still love spending the entire day cooking, trying new recipes, and sharing good food with friends.