‘Fabulous job’: Anaya gets creative with fashion

Angie Anaya, a teacher at Manteca High communicating enthusiastically with a student about interior design & fashion on August 29th, 2025.  

By ANGELINA ARELLANO 
The Tower 

MANTECA – Angie Anaya is a teacher at Manteca High School who gives lessons about fashion to students.  

Anaya has been involved in the fashion industry and her experience in teaching fashion to students for 17 years.  

As a fashion teacher in Manteca, she brings confidence in her role that hopes to make other teachers be more creative    

She inspires students to be more communicative in their area for what they’re passionate about to her welcoming personality that makes her an asset to what being a great teacher is all about. 

Anaya has the capability to also be heart-warming and friendly to her students. She brings many students together to collaborate and share ideas on artistry.  

Her innovative and visionary sense comes through in her clothing and the environment she teaches in.  

Ranging from her decorations that regulate in floral flowers to mannequins and shelves filled with books of intellectual sense of fashion.  

“Like it’s a moment of my day to pause and really appreciate what I do,” said Anaya, “and I’m a high school teacher who teaches fashion and interior design and that’s like a fabulous job.”  

Carol Creighton is well identified for her relationship with Anaya while incorporating herself in her work  

Creighton is well known for her artistry in photography, articulating an organization for photo and media.  

Angie Anaya, a teacher at Manteca High sits at her desk while conversing with a different student about the subject to help gain insight on interior design & fashion on August 29th, 2025.  

 Creighton is kind and thoughtful with her responses and shares an etiquette about many people.  

Creighton has known Anaya for 22 years while working alongside with her for 13 years.  

With Creighton's innovations and long connection with Ms. Anaya, she can be vocal in her artistic influences in being creative.  

Creighton and Anaya have been together alongside to share a sophistication to creativity. Such as associating themselves with fashion and photo media.  

She also shares an idea of how you can be influential through your innovations.  

“Well, I think she’s a fashion icon in herself. If you ever see her, she always looks so put together. I’ve seen her even on rare occasions and even in jeans, she just makes it look like she is ready for the runway. I think she’s beautiful inside and out.” Said Ms. Creighton 

The Tower caught up with Angie Anaya to discuss her role as a teacher on campus and the topic of fashion that she educates about to her other students.  

TT: Would you say that do you personally find fashion to be a major factor in life? 

AA: For me personally, yes for some people, no. And I get that too, but I always love that I always tell people when I meet them for the first time and they say “oh you’re a fashion teacher, oh my gosh! I need help, I have no style!”. And my reaction is always this, everybody has a style, everybody has their own style but, for me, fashion is important, it’s vital. It’s something that we wear every single day of our lives or we’re wearing something. And so, yeah. To me, fashion is super vital.  

TT: When you talk about the negative qualities about fashion, do you like find it more recognizable to other students about like how fur and animals are being designed to fashion shows. Would you say that you are aware of that to your other students?  

AA: In our advanced fashion merchandising class, we do get into like animal rights … and we talk about PETA. But to me, it’s more about teaching them to be better consumers and knowing fabrics, and like how do we produce those fabrics and then understanding how something is made. So, to me it’s more important to teach that part and even if a student walks out of my class, and doesn’t go into the fashion industry, they’ll be better consumers.  

TT: And what is one fashion trend that you adore?  

AA: A fashion trend that I adore… this is going to sound super cheesy, but I just like when people are super genuine. So, I don’t know if it’s like a trend necessarily, but I just like when people are genuine, and you can tell that they’re confident and comfortable with what they’re wearing. And it just, exudes. You can see that, but if I had to be concrete on it and I needed to pick a trend I am all about the jelly shoe right now because it’s very nostalgic for me growing up, I wore jellies my daughter wore jellies when she was little my granddaughters wearing jellies now. So, I think it’s just a silly, fun trend right now.  

TT: I would say being genuine is a trend because when it comes to fashion, being genuine with what you like is very important. So…  

AA: Oh, my god yeah.