Health teacher Vickie Christensen keeps a record of how many days into the school year it takes a student to ask her a vulnerable question. The fastest was three days. Now, after 32 years of being a point person on campus, Christensen is retiring. 

“It makes my heart warm knowing that kids felt comfortable enough to come in and ask me the tough questions,” Christensen said. 

Initially joining Los Altos High School in 1994 as the orchestra director, she fell into her current role when the administration asked her to fill a vacancy in the Health Department — a move that would secure her a full-time job. Nonetheless, Christensen felt teaching Health came naturally. 

“I have a math and science background, so Health made perfect sense,” Christensen said. “I’m really good at translating all the science-y medicine gobbledegook into, ‘Here’s what that really means.’”

As the sole Health teacher at LAHS, Christensen knows her subject can be tricky to navigate. Even when covering more awkward topics in the course, Christensen said she never felt embarrassed. To get her students to loosen up, she said she used her “crazy” sense of humor.

“The ability to make people laugh is a superpower,” Christensen said. “I try really hard to use my powers for good — to get people’s attention and help them feel relaxed.”

She hopes that through her class, students have learned how to take care of themselves, make good decisions and ask for help when they need it.  

“There was never any shame in Ms. Christensen’s class,” senior Nadia Mootz said. “She was always uplifting people and encouraging us to think deeply.”

Christensen’s teaching journey began when she herself was a high schooler in Fairfield. She taught swimming and music lessons, with the latter being a true passion of hers. In fact, Christensen was always surrounded by music as her mother and grandfather were both musicians. 

“We’d be in the car and burst out into a four-part harmony,” Christensen said. “I thought that was just how every family was.” 

Today, Christensen can play every woodwind instrument, as well as some percussion instruments. 

“I love the way music makes you feel,” Christensen said. “It’s really hard work, but it doesn’t feel like it because the process is so much fun.” 

In high school, Christensen played in the County Honor Band for four years and the All-State Honor Band for two. Her passion has taken her all over the world, from the California Rose Parade to the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. 

However, she took a year-long break from music to study forestry at Sheldon Jackson College in Alaska. There, Christensen led a life quite different from that of California. Among her new experiences was trying muktuk, or whale blubber, which she described as an “acquired taste.” 

Christensen found her way back to California — and to music — in 1983 to study bassoon performance at California State University, Fresno. She said her mother met the professor during a music educators’ conference, which helped secure her spot in the studio.

“He said, ‘Oh yeah, have your daughter come study with me,’ because he had heard my tape when I auditioned for All-State,” Christensen said. 

At Fresno State, she played in the wind ensemble, which she especially enjoyed because of their time in the recording booth. To raise money for tours, the ensemble would record its pieces and sell them to high schools. But raising money wasn’t their biggest achievement — the group also won a Downbeat Student Music Award and a Grammy. 

Awards in hand, Christensen went on to earn her master’s in Music History and Literature at San Diego State University. She also put in a year of work toward a doctorate in Musicology and Ethnomusicology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Among the many instruments she plays, her favorite is the bassoon. Currently, Christensen is a bassoonist for the South Bay Philharmonic Orchestra. She said if she weren’t playing music in some way, she’d be “itching” to do so. 

After retirement, Christensen is moving to Temecula, a city in Southern California, to help her sister take care of her dad. She hopes to find another group to play in so she can scratch her musical itch. 

Christensen said she will particularly miss her LAHS colleagues. She is grateful to the different departments that have adopted her into their circles, as she’s the only teacher in the Health department. 

“I’ve known Ms. Christensen for almost 30 years, and she has always been a supportive colleague, often lending a listening ear or hug when I was struggling personally,” math teacher Maria Olson said. “She’s often been called an honorary Math Department member.”

One of Christensen’s proudest achievements on campus was helping facilitate SSMILE (Student and Staff Morale Is Lurking Everywhere). A former staff club, they organized lunches during professional development days that brought teachers together. 

“Almost any large social event for about 15 years didn’t happen without her facilitating or initiating it,” Olson said.

To further boost morale, Christensen wears a sparkling crown at the end of each week in a tradition she’s dubbed “Tiara Fridays.” Every Tiara Friday Christensen invites her students to join her in wearing any kind of headpiece. 

“I remember one time she didn’t wear her crown, and I had to call her out on that,” Nadia said. 

Over the years, Christensen’s tiara collection has grown. What started out as one, nicknamed “Miss California,” has turned into a collection big enough to wear a new tiara for every week of a semester. 

With her retirement approaching, Christensen encourages students not to worry about what others think and to lead with kindness. 

“When it comes to being authentic, if it’s fun and it’s not going to harm anybody else… do it,” Christensen said. “Wear your damn tiara.”