Hanne Schmidt, Class of 1999

As dance is one of her greatest passions, dance teacher Hanne Schmidt appreciates the new opportunities that Woodbridge High students have to dance that didn’t exist when she was a student.

“There weren’t all these opportunities for dance to be involved in everything. And now dance is just everywhere,” Schmidt said. “You see the Associated Student Body perform. You see [it at] homecoming, when a formal court performs. Even the football players were performing in pep rallies…[it] makes me just so happy to see all of those opportunities.”

While Schmidt was initially inspired to teach English, she eventually realized that dance was her calling.

“I really looked up to Ms. Mitchell, she was my idol [and] my English teacher,” Schmidt said. “So…I really wanted to be someone who would connect with students like her, but I knew I would never stop dancing. I was very passionate about that.”

Similar to her colleagues, Schmidt thinks that the diverse opportunities Woodbridge High offers to students is what sets the school apart.

“I love that the arts department is so strong, that the athletics are so strong, the academic programs. It’s just so well rounded, and it’s just really admirable to see that,” Schmidt said.

Grant Davis, Class of 1991

For English teacher Grant Davis, the passionate student body who makes the school the way it is has stayed remarkably consistent.

“What makes this place is its core values, which is the whole student experience, and students who are active and engaged in everything,” Davis said. “That’s been true from the very beginning, from when I was here, back in the 80s, all the way through to the present day.”

To Davis, this makes the student experience at Woodbridge High very unique.

“I think this is a special place that does special things for kids,” Davis said. “I truly believe that…The students here are passionate, whether that’s passionate about sports or passionate about the arts or passionate about academics or passionate about literally everything all at once, which I think is special.”

Being a teacher at Woodbridge High also serves as a fitting full-circle moment for Davis, not only just by being here, but in the classroom he has called home.

“I started school here…the first year that there was a J Building. I had my freshman year class in J114 where I now teach, and I took over this classroom from that teacher that I had as a freshman when she retired,” Davis said. “So I’ve not only been at this school, but here in J114 the whole time.”

Dimitri Kaviani, Class of 2014

Science teacher Dimitri Kaviani describes his time as a student at Woodbridge High to rank among his best life experiences, and still sees those foundational qualities he appreciated as a student well at work now as a teacher.

“High school was always one of my favorite times in my life,” Kaviani said. “I remember Woodbridge [High] being a very safe place, a place that I felt like I could be whoever I wanted to be, a place I didn’t feel judged. And the thing I love about Woodbridge [High]is that that still seems to be the case. I have a lot of students who are athletes, they’re also artists, they’re in band…and they’re not put into a box and told how to do one thing or another. And I love that about our campus. It just feels very much like a place where everyone can be themselves.”

Kaviani believes that the culture at Woodbridge High helps to create a comfortable atmosphere.

“We’ve always had a positive school culture of balancing academics and [extracurriculars], recognizing that [one is not] more important than the other, necessarily,” Kaviani said. “I think we do a good job at Woodbridge [High] about valuing people as a whole.”

Having been on both sides of things, behind the desk as a student and now at the front of the class as a teacher, Kaviani recognizes and appreciates all that the staff do in order to support their students.
“I think the staff, from what I’ve seen being a student in some of their classrooms and now being their colleagues, I see, and have always seen, how much they care about their students,” Kaviani said. “I genuinely think it’s the staff at this school that helps set that culture, and I can tell how much they care about these students at the school and how they genuinely want what is best for them.”

Matt Takeno, Class of 1996

While yearbook and visual arts teacher Matt Takeno still finds a strong sense of community at Woodbridge High, he remembers a time before the internet and social media interfered with the way students spent time together.

“Every Friday night, we all went to the basketball games, and not just the football games. We went to all the different sports and everybody hung out,” Takeno said.

As a member of the football team when he was in high school, Takeno describes how not much has changed with the program, his experience shifting from being a player to being a spectator.

“Every time you walk through the locker room, it smells exactly the same. The weight room that I lifted it in is still there, and the field looks different, but it’s the same place,” Takeno said. “It’s kind of fun to relive that. When I go to the games now, I take my son, and we can stand there and watch the games together, and [I can] try to remember what it was like to be out there.”

Even all these years later, Woodbridge High is still home for Takeno, and somewhere he thinks is a truly special place.

“I think it’s one of those places that people take it for granted,” Takeno said. “My whole life I wanted to leave. I used to complain about how boring it was and everything else. And then as soon as I grew up and realized how amazing it was…then I’m like, ‘You know what? It was a mistake. I don’t want to leave. That’s where I want to be.’”