Federal Way Public Schools Alumni of Note
Candace Faber
Foreign Service Officer, United States Department of State
Federal Way High School
Graduate, Class of 2001
Candace Faber’s career has taken her around the world and back again. As a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, she’s worked in Poland, Belarus, Washington DC and will soon depart for Afghanistan. The Foreign Service is America's diplomatic corps, which represents U.S. interests in embassies and consulates overseas and also supports those missions back in Washington, DC.
A 2001 Federal Way High School graduate, Faber has an impressive resume. She speaks English, Polish, Dari, Russian, and Spanish. She holds a double Bachelor’s Degree in political science and Slavic languages and literatures from the University of Washington as well as a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
As a student in Federal Way, Faber attended Federal Way High School, Sacajawea Middle School, Nautilus Elementary School and Star Lake Elementary School. “I am proud to be a graduate of Federal Way Public Schools,” she said.
Participation in Honors and AP courses, as well as extracurricular activities, helped fuel Faber’s success, she said. “In terms of academics, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to take Honors and AP courses from teachers who were not afraid to push students beyond their intellectual boundaries. The specific knowledge I gained from those classes was perhaps less important than the feeling of being challenged and developing new strategies for understanding difficult concepts.”
Opportunities to experience life outside school and life outside Federal Way were just as important as her studies, if not more so, Faber said. “Participating in leadership, speech and debate, track & field, the Eagle Eye, and competitive clubs such as DECA and FBLA allowed me to challenge myself in other ways and meet people from outside my classes,” she said. “Every time that we traveled for a conference or competition, I saw how another part of our society worked and was exposed to new ways of thinking. In those competitions, I failed as often as I succeeded, and those failures were the best preparation for the real-world challenges that awaited me beyond high school. I was grateful to have teachers and coaches who were not afraid to challenge me or to criticize me. Even when it was tough to hear, I believe that their feedback made me a better student of life and a better person.”
Among her most memorable teachers were Mr. Gabrio and Mr. Victor at Sacajawea, Faber said. She fondly recalls their egg drop and Orwell simulation experiments. “Both of those projects forced us to apply what we were learning in the classroom to real-life problems - and to test our assumptions against sometimes unpredictable realities,” she said.
“I am hard-pressed to think of any teachers before or since who pushed me as much as they did to expand the way I thought about the world. In Mr. Gabrio's class, we learned the power of leadership and the importance of social dynamics; his simulation managed to artificially create a very real and deeply problematic political state of affairs that we could not deal with using our intellect alone. Mr. Victor was an indispensable coach who believed in my ability to learn difficult lessons and forced me to resolve conflicts with other people, even when I didn't think I could. Those experiences changed my life and have shaped how I think about social and political problems ever since. I hope that Federal Way Public Schools continue to support unconventional methods of nurturing students' development as whole people, and not just as successful test-takers.”
For current students, Faber offers the following advice: “Don't just embrace challenges, seek them out. At times, Federal Way felt like a small place to me, but in retrospect, it was full of important lessons. Be open-minded and take advantage of all the opportunities you have to interact with people who are different from you. And whatever you do, don't be afraid to fail. You learn the most important lessons about life when you shoot for something that seems beyond your reach.”
Faber’s advice to district policy-makers includes the hope that they will continue to support extracurricular activities. “I hope that in spite of the perennial challenges to our public school system and the changing demographics of Federal Way, our schools will continue to provide opportunities for all students,” she said. “I hope that you continue to empower teachers who take risks in their classrooms and use unconventional methods to help their students understand the world we live in. I hope that the arts, athletics, and extracurricular programs that are critical to students' development as future citizens - and their motivation to participate in the school community - continue to receive adequate funding and support. Academics are important - especially for students who love academics, like me - but they're not everything, and they probably aren't even the most important piece of one's secondary education. So long as photography, drama, pottery, foreign language, shop, debate club, pride club, and all the other programs that allow students to find a place where they can thrive continue to be valued, FWPS will be a great place to learn.”