Mrs. No’el Fortner, a freshman English teacher nestled in the upper west wing, has an obsession any of her students could notice: Perry the Platypus. With decor scattered around her room and even using him as the cover photo for her Schoology classes, Fortner’s love for the Phineas and Ferb character couldn’t be more obvious.
“When my kids were little, we stumbled across (‘Phineas and Ferb’). It was a million times better than the brain melting hell of watching ‘Paw Patrol’ or ‘Peppa Pig’ on repeat. In fact, I found myself paying attention to the plot lines and enjoying all of the highbrow literary references they’d slip in. Perry and Doof’s complicated relationship was always my favorite part (yes, the subplot was my favorite!). And, I mean, how can you not love Perry?! Teal platypus… yes please!”
Fortner claims that since all of her students know how much she likes ‘Phineas and Ferb,’ the platypus has become a means of connecting with students.
“I think having a kind of niche hyper fixation that I’m not apologetic about lets my students see it’s okay to lean hard into the stuff that they’re into, at least I hope they see that,” Fortner said. “I teach all freshman, and they tend to be very worried about how they are perceived by others. I desperately want to help them get over that because living as their authentic selves will be a much more rewarding experience!”
Though she loves Perry the Platypus, it’s not her only interest.
“Perry’s not my only niche fixation,” Fortner said. “If you spend enough time in my classroom and you get to realize pretty fast that I’m unapologetically hyper passionate about a variety of things, from dachshunds to horses to crocheting to quoting bad ’80s movies.”
Even though she has many other types of decor in her room, Perry the Platypus has become the predominant one. Because so many people know about this interest, it has become an easy way to start connecting with students.
“Perry is my gateway interest I use to draw you into my world,” Fortner said. “Maybe we’ll connect about something, or maybe you’ll just realize kind people, though passionate about silly things that don’t matter to you, are still happy and kind people.”
It would be difficult to not notice the themed decor when walking into the classroom, but the sheer amount of Perrys around would make a good scavenger hunt.
Perry the Platypus might seem like a completely random theme for a high school English class, but it almost seems Perry chose Fortner, not the other way around.
“Perry gradually took over my room organically,” Fortner said.” He was never an intentional thematic choice. I had a few Perry items in my classroom when I taught at the middle school, then one of my students, Emily McNabb, brought me the Perry board and some magnets and it was off to the races.”
It may have started small, but over the years, many student gifts have accumulated to cover the room.
“I have a fairly large, crocheted Perry that a student, Sarah Ghiassi, made me when she took my class that is very special, and I also have an air-dry clay Perry that Ava Meister made me when she was a freshman,” Fortner said. “I also have a framed watercolor of Agent P that CC Hannig gave me when she left for C-Tech that is magical! There are so many awesome Perrys that are living in my room at this point; it’s hard to pick even a few favorites. I could go on and on!”
Though the Perry decor began as a fun touch to her class, it has evolved into a meaningful inlet to Fortner’s personality. It has become a conversation starter and has resulted in her receiving many handmade gifts. On the surface, it seems like a simple theme but now fosters better student-teacher relationships.
