Mt. Pleasant High School is a
public high school
State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...
located in the
Alum Rock district of
San Jose, California. It is a part of the
East Side Union High School District
Steve Poizner
After selling his high-tech businesses,
Steve Poizner
Stephen Leo Poizner (born January 4, 1957) is an American businessman, technology entrepreneur, and former Republican California Insurance Commissioner and Gubernatorial candidate. Poizner also was an independent candidate in the 2018 Californ ...
worked at the school as a volunteer teacher, writing about it in ''Mount Pleasant: My Journey from Creating a Billion-Dollar Company to Teaching at a Struggling Public High School'', a book released in April 2010. Poizner invoked
hyperbole while describing the school, including exaggerating crime and graduation rates at the school and in the neighborhood.
Ira Glass and ''
This American Life'' exposed the differences between Poizner's account and the true story of the school, with Glass calling the story "obviously and provably untrue."
Mt. Pleasant's high school principal, Teresa Marquez, cancelled Poizner's visit to the school, then Marquez and students protested the book at a book signing. The book reached the fifth position of the ''New York Times'' bestseller list, but that was possibly through altering of the sales data by
ResultSource
ResultSource is a San Diego-based book marketing company that conducts "bestseller campaigns" on behalf of authors. The company states "'We create campaigns that reach a specific goal, like: "On the bestsellers list," or "100,000 copies sold.'" ...
, a book marketing company.
Ironically, the book title misspells the name of the school, as it is officially "Mt. Pleasant High School" and not "Mount Pleasant High School."
Notable alumni
*
Kenny Williams, Vice President of the Chicago White Sox
*
Jeneba Tarmoh
Jeneba Sylvia Tarmoh (born September 27, 1989) is an American Athletics (sport), track and field sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She is of Sierra Leonean descent.
Prep
Tarmoh lives in San Jose, California, where she at ...
, member of the 2012 USA Olympic team, gold medal winner, 4 × 100 m Relay
*
Jhonen Vasquez, comics artist and creator of the popular animated series ''
Invader Zim''
See also
*
Santa Clara County high schools
References
External links
Mt. Pleasant High School profileprovided by greatschools.net (contains pop-ups)
1964 establishments in California
East Side Union High School District
High schools in San Jose, California
Public high schools in California
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