Ms. Ana Alavanja teaches fun electives like Facs. She is in her first year of teaching at Griffith High School. Previously, Ms. Alvanja substituted for a few years at Crown Point before moving to Griffith High School, where she realized teaching full-time was in her future. What inspired Ms. Alavanja to become a full-time teacher is that she enjoyed being around students while learning and understanding new things. What drew her to teach at Griffith High School was the chance to teach both middle school and high school, which was new for her. She also enjoys the small community at Griffith since she went to a big high school and didn’t get the opportunity to become close with people. She also enjoys working with different grade levels and seeing them grow over time. Ms. Alvanja values respect in her classroom, wanting her students to respect each other and respect her. However, she wants her students to have fun while learning and express themselves in a comfortable classroom environment. As we cut into the deeper part of what teachers go through, she explained her ups and downs. Mentally, if a student is having a bad day, it affects her. Ms. Alavanja says, “Every day is different, and every student is different every day.”