Campus Update

Tribe Tribune Staff • December 10, 2025

Hang Time

The Aerospace & Engineering Club turned the 200s Building hallway into an airstrip on Nov. 21 when they hosted a friendly airplane competition. It took just the right combination of cardboard, paper, wood planks, plastic propellers and rubber bands to create necessary air resistance for flight-worthy aircrafts. (Top) Treasurer Cole Dykes watches co-president Steven Alcantara add finishing touches to their airfoil plane. (Left) Seniors Kiersten Bedell and Jasmine Java prepare to launch their aircraft. (Right) Co-president August Miller practices in club adviser Jim Pitochelli’s classroom. The club’s next meeting is Dec. 12 in Room 241. Photos by Hailey Verduzco

Principal impressed with bomb threat response

By Corabella Dover

Principal Jon Caffrey was in his office when principal secretary Benigna Rodriguez received a call from an unknown contact on Nov. 13 at approximately 1:49 p.m. The caller said that a bomb was present on the Fullerton campus, listing a specific location and time of detonation. The call lasted less than a minute long.

“It felt very much like a credible threat, and unfortunately in the United States, these things are a little more common than they should be,” Caffrey said.

Police officials say that the best way to stay informed during a crisis is to follow the FPD on Instagram. Follow them @fullerton_pd. (Tribe Tribune)

Typically, Caffrey would notify Campus Resource Officer Adan Muñoz to properly assess the situation. However, Muñoz was dealing with a separate issue on campus and was unable to assist.

Luckily, Caffrey was prepared to act quickly, and immediately took action by announcing a schoolwide evacuation on the loudspeaker.

Unlike other FJUHSD schools like Sunny Hills and Troy that remained in a shelter in place, Fullerton students relocated to the stadium, which is a much safer environment for FUHS students, according to Caffrey.

“The way I look at it is that the central bathroom is in the center of the campus, with kids walking around. There are also classrooms in the 140’s, and not far is the 150’s and the cafeteria,” Caffrey said. “Everything’s right in that area. And again if it were a large bomb, it’s impacting an enormous amount of people. The safest place for our students to be was in the stadium, in my opinion.”

What Caffrey didn’t know at the time of the call was that Troy High School had been handling a similar situation since about 1:25 p.m.

“Troy had been dealing with it for about a half hour, but nobody ever notified us. We had no idea,” Caffrey said. “And later, we found out that on their end, it sounded very much like a prank because the person was using a voice recording. For ours, it wasn’t like that at all.”

Even if Caffrey had known that Troy’s threat was most likely a prank, he said that he still would have taken the call seriously. To him, taking a situation too lightly can have a catastrophic impact.

“I’m never gonna be that person that’s gonna say off the bat, ‘this is fake.’ Because there’s always the potential that it’s real,” he said.

During the evacuation, students received updates from the Fullerton Police Department’s Instagram. The FPD’s communication during the evacuation was specific with times and locations.

Club offers puppy therapy for finals week

By Elena Solis and Stephanie Castaneda

Finals week is stressful for everyone, ranging from parental pressures, to teacher expectations, and personal stresses to maintain grades. Juniors Sarafina Forniss and Lila Kim are no strangers to the stresses of finals week.

Forniss and Kim are the two co-presidents of the Pause 4 Paws dog service club. The purpose of this club is to help make donations towards dogs in need.

“At every meeting we do service projects like creating bandanas for dogs, making blankets, and dog toys. Then we donate it to an organization that disperses it to a bunch of different dog shelters around Fullerton and Brea,” Forniss said.

Beyond serving dogs themselves, Pause 4 Paws has aimed to help with students’ mental health during finals through dog therapy. For two years, Forniss and Kim have made it their mission to receive permission from administration to bring therapy dogs onto campus during finals week to help relieve stress and anxiety.

“We got shut down by the school board and principal for two years but we fought really hard against the board and they finally said yes,” Kim said.

With finals approaching, Pause 4 Paws is happy to announce that next week, on Dec. 15, certified therapy dogs and their handlers will be available for the first time on campus.

There will be two dogs, one golden retriever and one shih tzu, that students may pet and interact with after acquiring and submitting a signed waiver. Permission waivers can be found online on the Pause 4 Paws Instagram page along with the QR code provided on the information flyer. There will also be an opportunity for students to make stress balls as an alternative.

Pause 4 Paws invites any student who loves animals to sign up for this upcoming event and continue to be involved. Every small contribution helps support our furry friends and grow the club’s impact in the community. Students who are interested in exploring more about Pause 4 Paws can follow the club Instagram, @fuhs_pause4paws, or attend an upcoming meeting. Club members meet on the second Friday of each month in Room 208.