PETALUMA PROFILE: The Force is with Penngrove educator Christina Towner

“I grew up watching “Star Wars” movies over and over and over,” says Christina Towner of Penngrove. As such - and as the Vice Principal of Sonoma’s Altamira Middle School, home of the country’s only “Star Wars”-themed English class - Towner was a participant in last Friday’s field trip to Sonoma Cinemas for a special 9:30 a.m. screening of the film “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” “My fiancée is really into ‘Star Wars’, too,” she says. “So, to get ready for “The Last Jedi,” we re-watched all of them. In order. So we’d be prepared.”

Asked which of the previous eight “Star Wars” movies ranks as her personal favorite, Towner names 1983’s “Return of Jedi.” She admits it’s not the most popular choice among some “Star Wars” fans.

“It really just goes back to my childhood,” she explains. “As a kid, I loved that movie. It’s a roots thing, deep inside of me.”

Describing herself as a “huge ewok fan” – ewoks being the cute-but-carnivorous furry inhabitants of the planet Endor, in “Return of the Jedi” –

“We were obsessed!” Towner laughs. “Anything with ewoks, we couldn’t get enough of.”

Now in her ninth year at Altamira, and her fourth as vice principal, Towner is a strong supporter of the school’s Jedi English Class, developed by English instructor Bridget Paul. The class, for advanced English students, uses various “Star Wars” concepts and stories as a launching pad for AP-level assignments and essays.

“The class is amazing,” says Towner. “And Ms. Paul is a rock star. The whole Jedi theme teaches kids, not just to be academically ambitious, but also to be good people. I can see how people might think it’s a typical, California granola thing, but it’s a brilliant way for kids to connect to advanced ways of learning, using themes that are appealing and exciting.”

Sometimes, Towner believes, students need a little something extra to ignite that educational spark.

“I was not the best student,” she admits. “I was one of those ‘smart but active’ kids, and I struggled in school. Teachers didn’t understand me, which made it harder. It was my goal to get into teaching, so that the kids I taught didn’t have happen to them what happened to me.”

Upon earning her teaching credential and joining the staff at Altamira as a Special Education instructor, Towner says she initially had “zero interest” in school administration as a career. But Altamira principal William Deeths – also an enormous “Star Wars” fan, it so happens – eventually suggested to Towner that she might make an excellent school administrator. Convinced to give it a try, she applied for and was granted a scholarship that fast-tracked her Master’s degree in School Administration. Not long after, at the age of 28, Towner was appointed Altamira’s Vice Principal, making her one of the youngest educators in the state of California to become a Middle School Vice Principal.

In the lobby, immediately following the “Last Jedi” screening on Friday, Towner says she was not disappointed.

“It went a completely different direction than I thought it would, but that’s great,” she muses. “I actually can’t wait to see it again, because there was so much in it. I want a chance to catch some of the stuff I might have missed.”

Now, of course, Towner has to wait at least two years to find out what happens next. That’s alright, she says.

“Star Wars,” with our without ewoks, is definitely worth waiting for.

“As long as they keep making “Star Wars” movies,” Towner says, “I’ll keep going to see them.”