When students walk into D-2, instead of seeing a 6’4’’ tall, boisterous man waiting for them at the door with a high-five, this year, his familiar face is replaced by a shorter, redheaded woman. Once former AP World History teacher, Mr. Scott Collins transferred to Spring View Middle School as the new assistant principal; Mrs. Leah Seabrook, an English teacher from Granite Oaks Middle School was eager to replace him.

“The principal over there [Granite Oaks] assigned me to teach English even though I wanted to teach history. So, when Mr. Collins’s position was going to open, I applied for it, and because I have a masters degree in history and I interview well, I’m here now,” Seabrook said.

Although Seabrook was not a history teacher at Granite Oaks, she did not find the transition from English to history difficult. Seabrook has such a passion for history that in her free time, she travels to the state archives and reads through autopsy records. Other than studying history, she can be found spending time with her cats as she plays “Call of Duty”, where she is a prestige master level 279.

“I met my husband in a video game. I had just moved back to Texas from California and my husband and I started talking, so I ended up moving back to California to be with him. He’s a computer science guy, so we moved to the bay area for a while, and then we moved up to Sacramento. Then, I went to Davis to get my teaching credential, and now I’m here in Rocklin,” Seabrook said.

Once Seabrook moved to Rocklin, she began teaching English at Granite Oaks Middle School before eventually coming here.

“The biggest difference between teaching middle school and high school is the age of the students. There’s a little bit more of a maturity factor here than would be in say eighth grade,” Seabrook said.

Now that Seabrook is at Whitney, her students feel that she brings the same amount of eagerness to class as Mr. Collins did.

“While Mrs. Seabrook is less animated than Mr. Collins, she is more organized and more humorous, but she is equally as enthusiastic to teach history as he was,” Saira Costo said.

Seabrook has a passion for teaching and she feels that the Whitney pride really feeds into that.

“I think the school spirit is something to be commended. I think it’s amazing everyone wears maroon on Fridays, and it feels like a sense of community here. All of the students are really welcoming and that’s a major part of a successful school,” Seabrook said.

She is excited for her first year at Whitney and can’t wait to see the impact that she will have on her students.

Seabrook said, “I think that there is no better way to insure a positive future for humanity than to be a teacher. I absolutely love teaching.”