Tira Bunn, an art teacher at San Bernardino High School, was asked about her career, the people who have a great impact on who she is, and her personal life, both the highs and lows.

Tyro Times: What jobs did you have before teaching?

Tira Bunn: I worked at Disneyland and the Disney Store. I worked as a collector at Credit Union, which I hated. I was a stay at home mom for five years and then I started working here.

TT: What inspired you to become a teacher?

Bunn: I like kids. I have six of my own and apparently I like them enough to deal with 210 every year.

TT: What would your students be surprised to learn about you?

Bunn: That I like them. That I genuinely like them. I care about them.

TT: What do you like about the students here?

Bunn: Most of them have kind hearts. They’re sweet.

TT: Tell me about the saddest moment in your life.

Bunn: Probably when I found out one of my students passed away.

TT: What year was this?

Bunn: 2019.

TT: Is there a reason why it was that student in particular?

Bunn: It was the first one that I had lost. I was really close to her. I had her all four years over at Indian [High School] and she was young and she was just a great kid. She died of cancer, so it wasn’t a really great way to go and then her mom passed away, at the end of last January. The same thing. Same exact thing.

TT: Tell me about the happiest moment in your life.

Bunn: When my first child was born.

TT: Can you describe the feeling of when your first child was born?

Bunn: Well… I was on heavy medication because they were trying to keep me from having a stroke. It’s really, really hard to describe, but when she was born, it was a relief, one. Two, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful. And my husband… crusty on the outside and gooey on the inside… cried. He was like, “She’s so beautiful.” Yes, she was and she’s a perfect combination of the two of us. She was worth the 72 pound weight gain.

TT: Who is the most influential person in your life?

Bunn: Probably my husband.

TT: Why?

Bunn: Because he’s a hard worker. He’s a good husband. He’s a good man. He’s a good dad. He’s got a work ethic. He is compassionate when he needs to be. He’s the type that if you’re pulled over on the side of the road, he stops and helps. He’s my hero… 27 years.

TT: What are you most afraid of right now?

Bunn: I’m not really afraid. I worry, but I’m not as afraid. I worry about the kids here, I worry about my own kids, or I worry about my husband. I’m not necessarily afraid, I just worry. Being afraid is like it’s gripping you, but worrying is more like letting your mind go in places that it shouldn’t go because there’s certain things you have no control over.

TT: What are you worried about?

Bunn: Well, my husband’s a deputy sheriff in Riverside County and he works in an area where the roads are not really great. In fact, they just had a couple of people pass away on the highway that he goes to work every day because of a drunk driver. It’s a single road highway, so I’m more worried about him getting to and from work than I am him actually being on the job. Right now, my granddaughter’s in the hospital because she’s too little and they’re having a hard time keeping her oxygen levels up, so that’s a worry. I’m not scared because she’s not getting worse, but it’s a worry. Just things like that. And then about the kids here at school, I worry that some of these kids are not going to make it…worried that some of the kids will not make good choices.

TT: What is your greatest struggle right now?

Bunn: Having the mental capacity to do all the things that I’ve been tasked to do and that I want to do, and finding the balance between.

TT: Personal life? School life?

Bunn: Trying to find that work life balance and then trying to do all the things that are expected of me between the two like being a mom… trying to do all the things that I want to do for the students here. Just trying to find that balance and trying not to punch people in the throat [joke]. I don’t know if you want to include that part, but you know, try not to lose my mind.