Classrooms are pivotal in the educational journeys of students everywhere: you can find different forms of whiteboards or smart screens in different continents, different writing utensils, and even different chairs/seating arrangements.
The size and layout of instructional facilities also vary depending on the development level of students—kindergarteners tend to have more kinetic learning tools while high schoolers tend to have more regimented desks that are attached to their chairs.
However, regardless of class size, location, or level, all classrooms have decorations of some sort. At Yorba Linda High School, many teachers choose to adorn their rooms with various sports memorabilia, college pennants, travel souvenirs, and more.
In fact, Stefan Yach (11) who has a class with Mr. Cadra (Staff), says: “my favorite decorations in his room are the Japanese Kabuki masks.”
Here are some teachers and their well-known displays:
Mr. Lejano’s Angels Baseball Collection
In room 307, AP and College Prep Economics teacher Mr. Lejano displays his collection of Angels goodies from his years of being a fan.
There is a Vladimir Gurrero banner, a whole cabinet lined with bobbleheads, blankets, and even an assortment of Angels rally monkeys in the back of the room.
Mr. Lejano (Staff) has been an Angels fan since 1986. He says:
“I was a season ticket holder for years and accumulated a lot of promotional giveaways like bobbleheads and figurines. I decided to put them up in my classroom to help promote a connection with students that might be Angel or baseball fans. I think that anytime I can decorate my room with something out of the ordinary, it could make my classroom more inviting and pleasant to be in.”
Acknowledging that his favorite player Shohei Ohtani moved to the Dodgers and his frustrations with the Angels’ performance in the past decade, he says he’s “actually transitioning to becoming a Dodger fan,” but doesn’t have any Dodgers gear to put up in his classroom.
Mr. Lejano also has a wall with pictures of his past classes to “help remind my current students of a sense of purpose for why we are here and where we are trying to go.”
Mrs. Garcia’s Rubber Ducks
Mrs. Garcia (Staff) has a unique decoration: rubber ducks lined up above the smartboard.
She says it started out as an exercise to write a story from the point-of-view of a rubber duck. During a staff training, she bought a bunch of them to stimulate creativity in learning, teaching, as well as in lesson plans and in daily life. Eventually, they went unused during a student review game and were almost forgotten.
One year, on April Fool’s Day, she “walked in [her] classroom to find that Mr. Walls had hidden ducks everywhere. [She] was still finding ducks at the beginning of this year!”
Now, her US history students bring her unique rubber duckies signed with their names, class years, and other various notes—-a cute and quirky tradition.
Frau Picciotta’s Gingerbread Houses
Frau Picciotta (Staff) keeps a couple of Berlin Wall displays in her classroom (they were also featured in the YLHS library). Although they were made by a former teacher, she still keeps them up alongside the posters of German pop singer Wincent Weiss and study abroad programs of various universities.
However, her most prized possessions are the gingerbread houses that her German students create every Christmas. Students bring supplies like marshmallow treats, cookies, and frosting, and each creation is “judged” by other teachers for the first-place prize.
It is a great way for students to engage in friendly competition and explore German culture.
Students at YLHS appreciate when teachers include decorations in class that help engage them with their studies as well as make class more enjoyable!
