MATHEMATICS TEACHERS
MR. WHITLOCK AND MR. CALAVITTA
When Mr. Calavitta (fondly known as Cal), was in his first two years of teaching
Precalculus at Fairmont, he had a student named Stephen Whitlock. Stephen, who
was previously disinterested in Math, discovered a love for the subject under Mr.
Calavitta's guidance. He moved through Mr. Calavitta's Precalculus class into Calculus,
eventually making Math his major in college and helping as Mr. Calavitta's assistant
teacher during his studies. After graduation, Stephen joined Mr. Calavitta as a fellow
teacher at Fairmont Prep. There, Mr. Whitlock continues many of the inspiring
methods he learned from Mr. Calavitta and has Math mentees of his own.
SCIENTIST AND TEACHER
DR. MILLER
This past year, scientist and Fairmont science teacher Dr. Miller took on a
project of her own, exploring the value of project-based learning at Fairmont
North Tustin. She created a unique curriculum that reimagines the Fairmont
basis "the way a scientist would do it", grounded in projects and research. The
results spoke for themselves: a 70 point increase in students' standardized test
scores. "What was even more interesting to me as a teacher and researcher
was the growth I saw, the skills they learned," says Dr. Miller, "skills to help them
become college and career ready." We're proud to have Dr. Miller teach at
Fairmont Prep this year.
