Passion for the subject is key

Teacher Feature – Mr. Cody Frisinger, Art

Sharing+art+is+Mr.+Frisingers+passion.

Sharing art is Mr. Frisinger’s passion.

Mr. Cody Frisinger is in his second year as an Armijo teacher, but this is the first time he got to start on campus. “I am one of the Visual Arts teachers here and I currently teach Art 1 and Art 2,” he said.

“I have been teaching for the past eight years, so it has been a while since I have had another job!” He’s taught in Benicia and also spent five years in Pittsburg. “My ABSOLUTE favorite job I had was delivering pizzas in high school, though! I love driving and the tips I made were great!” he said.

“I think the main reason I became a teacher is because of the great teachers I had when I was in college,” said Mr. Frisinger. He attended CSU Chico. “The impact they had on my life and my approach to learning became instrumental on how I conduct myself to this day. I take the responsibility of being a teacher very seriously and I hope that I can have a positive effect on my students while pushing them to make beautiful artwork!”

Teaching during COVID was definitely a challenge. It “REALLY ensured that distance learning would never be for me,” he said. ”I really missed being able to get to know my students, build relationships with them, go to the sporting events, and overall missed the community that the classrooms can build.”

He got to do a lot of that as a student at Benicia High School, but didn’t click when he attended the University of Nevada (Reno). “I did not enjoy the college community in Reno, so I moved back to the Bay Area and went to Diablo Valley College where I was able to transfer to CSU Chico after one and a half years,” he said. “I absolutely LOVED CSU Chico and cannot say enough great things about that college. GO WILDCATS!

While teaching can take a lot of time, Mr. Frisinger finds time to enjoy some of his other passions. “I build old motorcycles in my free time, tinker with my Saleen Mustang, I train in jiu-jitsu, I paint and draw a lot (duh!). And for my down time, I am really into watching any and all movies from any country and time period. If anyone needs a movie recommendation, I’m your guy!” he said.

For students considering going into teaching, he would recommend that they make sure to have passion for the subject. “Any good/great teacher I had ALWAYS had passion for the subject,” said Mr. Frisinger. “When you love something, your energy can be contagious!”

As an Art teacher, he said he would like to see bigger classrooms with more art tools on campus. That would allow the students to get as much experience in multiple mediums of art. “But one thing I would LOVE to see, that Principal Brown brought up, is the landscape outside of the school. Let’s make this place look as beautiful as the Armijo spirit!”

Mr. Frisinger shared a few final words in the interview: “Feel free to stop by my classroom and say, ‘Hi!’ I’m over in room A-1, and I am looking forward to meeting a bunch of you with my time at Armijo High School!”