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.