The month of March 2001 began with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” leading the box office and it ended with Chris Batten having just a single marking period left in his high school career. Now we hear what happened to Chris when there were no more periods left to mark.

For example, we learned that Chris’s post-NFA journey was a unique one. After earning a degree, he began his career with the state’s Department of Corrections. It’s his side hustle, however, that really animates him: he became a world class knifemaker! (BirchCustoms.com) Both career and hobby make for interesting discussion topics in this fascinating episode.

Ian’s trivia about knife-making was, like some knives, rough around the edges, but Chris took most questions as an opportunity to sharpen everyone’s knowledge. Chris closes with an insightful retrospective about what makes NFA so valuable, including a couple of Delta Unit teachers who made a big impact on him.

His name is Chris Batten, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Finishing off Lovebird February is Elizabeth Brown, but do you know which 2001er she’s lovebirds with? Listen to find out.

You should also listen because Elizabeth proved to be one of RWS’s most articulate and insightful guests. In this episode, you’ll learn about her outdoorsy first summer after high school before joining Ian and Zack pursuing and then excelling in the field of public education. Elizabeth offers incredible insights into being a reading instructor, particularly in an era of evolving technology offering both opportunities and distractions, the latter of which, as you’ll hear, gets under Jim’s skin. Once you hear Elizabeth’s approach to teaching reading, you’ll wish she was in every school in America.

Because she likes musicals, Elizabeth (and listeners) also has to steel herself against Ian’s unique trivia, where each of our co-hosts hums famous musical numbers to see if Elizabeth can guess where they came from. It wasn’t pretty. Finally, Elizabeth recounts her time at the Norwich Free Academy, including how a certain 10th grade English teacher saw something special in her, marking a turning point in her life as a student. Who could it be? Oh, and Ian asks about horses on highways.

Her name is Elizabeth Brown, and she’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

In our 25th episode of looking back on 25 years, we have the gregarious Joe Ruffo. Listen to hear how his NFA work ethic carried him into his first post-diploma summer, where he balanced two jobs, a golf habit, and American Legion baseball. His go get ‘em attitude eventually led him to a successful career for a local business, rising to manager of a 13-million dollar store. We never get tired of hearing these Wildcat success stories.

Joe is now married with kids. Since it’s still Wildcat Lovebird Month here at “Red & White @ Silver,” you’ll need to find out which fellow 2001er he married. Joe is also a massive Patriots fan. As such, he had to field some tough trivia questions about the table’s favorite team. (Little did they know their squad was just one year away from returning to the Super Bowl!) He also has plenty of fond memories about the Norwich Free Academy that he shares with us, including remembering some of our dearly departed classmates.

His name is Joe Ruffo, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.