“Who has the ring?” one man yells. “I can’t find my bouquet!” cries the nervous bride. “Is the caterer here yet?” screams the groom’s mother. Children cry and adults run around in a frantic rush to make everything perfect for the wedding.
For two campus teachers, the stress of the wedding day has passed and progressed to a new life with their spouse.
“Heather and I met our junior year of high school,” Michael Fenton, Algebra teacher, said. “We shared two Advanced Placement classes, English and Government, so I was lucky to be able to sit next to her for two hours a day.”
Traci High, PE teacher and coach, married her husband, Steve, a month ago.
“We dated a little over two and a half months,” High said. “We got married four and a half months later. It was a quick decision, but the right one for me.”
Unlike Fenton, who knew his wife for a much longer time, High discovered the man who was going to be her husband only a short time ago.
“We met through a mutual friend,” High said. “We knew within two weeks that we wanted to get married. We couldn’t wait another agonizing eight months.”
The relationship process lasted much longer for Fenton than for his colleague.
“We dated for three and a half years and we were engaged for approximately six months,” Fenton said. “A summer wedding seemed ideal, but last summer I was unemployed and broke. Next summer was just too far away.”
Many newlyweds find it difficult to balance their new marriage and their time-consuming jobs. Both campus teachers do not see this as a future problem.
“With two months of teaching under my belt, I feel like I have some idea of what I’m doing,” Fenton said. “If we survived planning a wedding while starting a new career and beginning a teacher education program (Heather studies at Fresno Pacific University), I think we’ll be able to balance these things within our new life together.”
“It’s not too difficult to balance my job and my new marriage,” High said, “Coaching is an exception. But we always manage to make time together a top priority.”
To congratulate Fenton or High about their wedding, contact them at either [email protected] or [email protected].
