Which is the better school, Pascack Hills or Pascack Valley? Some of you, especially the freshmen, may not be aware that some of our school’s faculty is made up of “swing teachers”—teachers who work at both schools: Pascack Hills, and our biggest rival—Pascack Valley. Some of you might be wondering who these teachers root for: the Cowboys or the Indians?

I had the chance to interview Señora Kanova, one of our school’s new “swing” teachers who teaches AP Spanish. Señora Kanova was eager to teach at both schools after hearing about the great opportunities that the Pascack Valley Regional District offered for teachers. In order to have a chance to get to know her future colleagues, she attended a conference with the district before the start of this school year.

Señora Kanova is proof that having to work in both schools is not easy. For instance, she arrives at Pascack Hills at 7:30 in the morning, teaches classes from the morning until lunch, then leaves for Pascack Valley in the afternoon. She teaches about four classes in both high schools, depending on the block schedule. When asked about this transition,  Señora Kanova went on to add, “As of now, moving from here to PV has been relatively calm, but to be honest, one of my biggest concerns has to be managing to arrive on time. At the same time, I am very happy to be able to experience teaching at both schools.” She went on to joke about how Pascack Valley has air conditioning in her room, which makes teaching there a little easier.

As someone who teaches in rival schools, it must be difficult to decide whether to root for the Cowboys or the Indians during sporting events. Señora Kanova recalled attending a football game at Valley last year, where she was upset to see PV lose to Paramus. However, she went on to state, “If Pascack Hills was ever to make it into the finals for football, I will definitely root for the Cowboys.”

As many of you already know, every Friday at Pascack Hills is School Spirit Day, during which the hallways are filled with students and teachers clad in orange t-shirts and brown bandanas. If Spirit Day was ever to take place at both Pascack Hills and Pascack Valley on the same day, Señora Kanova knows exactly which color to wear. She confidently stated, “Blue, of course.” I looked up at her with a confused expression, until she went on the clarify, “Blue, because that is the color of our district.” It turns out that she actually wore a blue dress last Friday for our school Spirit Day.

As you can probably tell, it cannot be easy to be a swing teacher. Having to go from one school to another on a daily basis is a difficult and hectic task, especially when the two schools are enemies. The next time you see your swing teachers, be appreciative of all of their hard work and contributions to not just one, but two schools.