Have you ever looked at a teacher or administrator and wondered if they ever walked the halls of a middle school? Yes, they did. And some did really close to our own stomping grounds. A former EIS student, Mr. Apodaca, gave the Day Creek Howl a photo and interview of himself during middle school and we have the inside scoop for you to see what life was like during his teen years.

Mr. Apodaca was a wildcat. Yep, one of our rivals, I know. He claims to have been a well-rounded student with all A’s and B’s throughout middle school. The Howl didn’t see any actually report card, so we’re not really sure about this one. He claims to have been good in math and made honor roll every time. He tried to balance academics and sports. Yeah, just imagine David Apodaca as a preteen, running in gym shorts through a field, hair flying through the air. Yes, HAIR flying through the air.  Ahhh, the beauty of it all.

Mr. Apodaca loved sports in middle school. He remembers when he would try to run a mile in under 7 minutes to be part of the “7 minute mile club”. Do you believe our principal could run a mile in a much shorter time than most of us?  Hey, we just report these things.

Our principal also took an elective about photography, yet there weren’t digital cameras back in that era. (How could he have survived without those precious snapchat filters?!) He also suffered without an iPhone. We wondered aloud if he used an ancient floppy disk.

One advantage Mr. Apodaca’s era had that we don’t are cool electives.  He had woodshop on his schedule where the kids got to race wooden cars. This was obviously a cooler age, when there were fun electives. (Financial Literacy and Slammin’ Stats, I’m looking at you.)

Mr. Apodaca believes that the sports in the past were better than the present. EIS used to play competitively with other schools, instead of our phony intramural stuff. However, he also believes that academics are much better now, although some of us would disagree. *cough cough* StudySync *cough cough*.  Technology is better now, and schools are more up-to-date. He thinks that back then, things were simple and “you could keep your innocence longer.” Yet today’s teen would never give up a phone because you just HAVE to post on Instagram about how HARD your homework is.

In wrapping up our interview, Mr. Apodaca gave encouragement to modern Coyotes.  “Enjoy the time you have as a kid, don’t rush to become an adult. The most important thing you can learn to be is resilient, preserve, hard working and learn those things. Always be kind because you never know what others are going through.” said Mr. Apodaca.