Plausible deniability: poets, patents and pizza
- Mr. Fruzzetti has a patent for a whiteboard-marker holder: True. Mr. Fruzzetti actually holds two patents, one for the marker caddy and another for an “optically incredible reflecting telescope”. He devised the concept for the caddy while teaching in Hayward, where he did not have access to the interactive projector. To make learning easier, he color-coded his notes but wanted a faster way to retrieve and replace various Expo markers. He rapidly prototyped three versions before creating the final product from industrial-grade plastic. Besides being an inventor, Mr. Fruzzetti is also an author, having self-published “Essays on Everything”, a collection of essays on “everything from child rearing to calculus to religion to the future of the human race.”
- A plane once crashed on DV’s current location: False. No plane has ever crashed on the current site of DVHS. However, Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 crashed near San Ramon on May 7, 1964, when passenger Francisco Paula Gonzales shot both the pilot and co-pilot. The plane crashed, killing all 44 aboard, and is considered the first instance in the U.S. of an airplane downed as part of a mass murder/suicide.
- Mr. Duran is a multi-millionaire: Plausible. Mr. Duran offered no comment on his financial status, but was willing to state that “teaching is my second job”. His first was for 18 years in the “high-tech” industry.
- Ms. Byron is related to Lord Byron: True. Ms. Byron is related to the famous English Romantic poet. She even owns a ring with the family crest. This probably explains why she is such a brilliant AP Lang teacher.
- A class once ordered pizza delivery; the ladies in the front office ate it: False. There have been cases where the front office has received pizza ordered by students (and had to pay for it), but the pizza is confiscated by Administration and the student picks up the cold pie after school. The front office and administration are adamant that they have never eaten a student-ordered pizza.
- Mr. Chamberlain has a gang tattoo: False. Mr. Chamberlain actually spread this rumor himself. He has a tattoo on his arm that many people ask him about, and decided to tell his students he was a former gang member. In reality, the tattoo was something he designed himself — though he refused to disclose the precise inspiration for the art.
