Characters / Pepper Ann

The Coolest People

Pepper Ann "P.A." Pearson

"Pepper Ann, Pepper Ann! Marchin' in her own parade!
Pepper Ann, she's like one-in-a-million!
Pepper Ann, Pepper Ann! Much too cool for 7th Grade!
No one's cooler than Pepper Ann!"

Voiced by: Kathleen Wilhoite^{Other VAs} Elsa Covián (Latin American Spanish), Vicky Martínez (European Spanish), Alida Milana (Italian)

The 12-year-old protagonist of the series, whose emotions come out in fantasies.

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• All There in the Manual: It's never mentioned in the show, but according to the creator, the print on her skirt is supposed to be pineapple slices.

• Blind Without 'Em: In "Presenting Stewart Waldinger", she accidentally dropped her glasses in a punch bowl and later mistakes a hat rack for Milo.
• Break the Cutie: In "Cat Scan" and "The Great Beyond", she cries over the thought of losing her beloved cat, Steve.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: She continuously expresses her desire to become a Nobel prize winning scientist and, when she puts her mind to it, she's quite capable.
• Butt-Monkey: Always getting the short end of the stick.
• Character Catchphrase: Pepper Ann often says "My life is trash" whenever she does something that makes her a social outcast, like admit that she bought pimple cream at Abe's Mall (a.k.a the "Abys Mall," as only freaks and geezers go to a place like that) in "Ziterella".

• Daddy's Girl: P.A and Moose love to spend time with their father whenever he comes to visit.
• Disappointing Older Sibling: Moose seems to have no respect for Pepper, whatsoever. There may be a good reason for that, though.
• Dreadful Musician: No matter how hard she practices or tries, she just can't seem to play a single note.
• Endearingly Dorky: The whole part of Pepper Ann's charm is that she's quirky and hardheaded to a fault, which makes her all the more lovable.
• Establishing Character Moment: Episode 1 begins with a row of students closing well kept lockers, and it stops as our protagonist tries to cram all her stuff into hers. Thus the series gives us an idea of what we are getting ourselves into.

• The Friend Nobody Likes: While they don't hate her per se, Pepper's friends, teachers, and neighbors consider her a nuisance because of how nosy and inconsiderate she is.
• Gamer Chick: Video games were one of her dominant interests; she especially loved (and dominated at) an arcade game called Crunch Pod.
• Genki Girl: Very excitable and hyperactive.
• Good Is Not Nice: She means well, but sometimes it's hard to tell.
• Idiot Hero: All of the messes P.A. causes are because she lacks common sense and doesn't listen to anyone's suggestions.
• Informed Judaism: She's Jewish on her mother's side, but doesn't really seem to practice the religion actively outside of a few holidays with the family.
• Innocently Insensitive: It is sometimes shown that P.A doesn't know how much of a jerk she is and most of the problems she causes are unintentional.
• In-Series Nickname: Her friends often refer to her as "P.A".
• Jerkass Ball: In "Dances with Ignorance", P.A acts even more unpleasant than usual by making racist assumptions about her visiting Native American relatives and doesn't listen to anyone who tells her how offensive she’s being. Saying that they get easily pissed at her would be an understatement.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She is blunt, rude, reckless, nosy and Innocently Insensitive, but she always learns her lesson at the end and ultimately has her heart in the right place. Multiple episodes show that while she can be Innocently Insensitive, it's still while she's trying to help someone else.
• Jewish Smartass: She is Jewish on her mother's side and can't go one episode without being rude or sassy.
• Karmic Butt-Monkey: A lot of her mishaps are just karma bumping her back to reality due to her general unpleasant behavior.
• Kick the Morality Pet: In "Impractical Jokers", she publicly humiliates Nicky by sabotaging her concert For the Evulz and even laughs at it. Her response? "It's just a joke!"
• Limited Social Circle: P.A never hangs out with anyone outside of Milo and Nicky, since the other kids can barely tolerate her antics and are just casual acquaintances at best. Some show summaries even literally state that Nicky and Milo are her only friends. There was even an episode focusing on her trying to have fun without them.
• Large Ham: Always blowing things out of proportions.
• Ms. Imagination: There are almost Family Guy-like cuts to how she sees or imagines things.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Sassy, blunt and rude Pepper Ann is the mean one to Nicky's Nice and Milo's In-Between.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Maybe. Back when the show had a website where you could chat with someone roleplaying as the character, said chat supposedly revealed that her birth name is actually Jennifer. However, the show itself never even implies that "Pepper Ann" is a nickname.
• Otaku Surrogate: Comic books were another thing that she was into.
• Passionate Sports Girl: She's into sports, all right, and she's passionate. She is a star soccer player at HMS, and also had a successful stint as the school's football placekicker.
• Protagonist Title: Her name is the title of the series and she's the main character.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Pepper Ann, Nicky and Milo are best friends and love each other in the same way best friends would. They are not dating and have no intention of it. Sorry shippers, no hookup for you.
• Small Name, Big Ego: "She's her own biggest fan, Pepper Ann!"
• Smug Snake: Too confident for her own good.
• Stock Scream: She lets go a high-pitched, raspy scream when caught by surprise.
• Talking to Themself: She frequently has discussions with her conscience in any reflective surface, or any place where she can see her own face — even in a bowl of pasta.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: She's a tomboy, all right, and she's got a ponytail.
• Tomboyish Voice: She's got a fairly deep, croaky, androgynous-sounding voice (though it's not as deep as her sister Moose's).
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: She is a self-absorbed jerk who is always causing trouble. Some good examples include "Dances with Ignorance", "Impractical Jokers", "Greensleeves", "Unicycle of Life", "Megablades of Grass", and "TGIF". If the characters are blunt enough about her unpleasant behavior, we can at least rest assured that she won't make the same mistake twice.
• Unwanted Assistance: As a Running Gag, Pepper Ann is chronically bad at helping people and giving advice. Lampshaded in "The Amazing Becky Little."
  Milo: How to put this... hmm... often-times when you attempt to help people they end up worse off than before you—
  Pepper Ann: Don't you think I know that?
• With Friends Like These...: Can act this way towards Nicky and Milo when the writers are feeling evil.

Nicky Little

Voiced by: Clea Lewis^{Other VAs} Leyla Rangel (Latin American Spanish), Nuria Trifol (European Spanish), Monica Ward (Italian)

One of Pepper Ann's two best friends. She is soft-spoken and an overachieving violinist.

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• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • She's cute and speaks softly, but she's proven able to somehow hypnotize her own teacher, Jedi-style!
  • Also, she will snap at Pepper Ann when she's had enough of her stupid tomfoolery.
• Break the Cutie: When Pepper Ann sabotages her recital and laughs at her humiliation, poor Nicky looks as if she's about to cry at any moment.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: At least, when it comes to sports and athletics. Nicky should in theory be pretty good (see Muscles Are Meaningless) but she usually doesn't think much of sports and athletics.
• Character Catchphrase: Nicky has "absolutamente." Though she doesn't say it quite as constantly as the regular catchphrase it does pop up from time to time.
• The Cutie: Pepper Ann's sweet, bright, and bookish best friend.
• Elegant Classical Musician: Plays the violin, the piano and the autoharp.
• Expy: Of Lisa Simpson: She's a blonde, overachieving student who practices a musical instrument (the violin in her case), is The Unfavorite in her family and plays the Only Sane Man of her group. She's also a vegetarian.
• Freudian Excuse: Nicky's perfectionist nature and initial reputation as the school bully stems from her parents preferring Becky over her.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: With Becky. Nicky is jealous that Becky has all sorts of athletic trophies and good-name stuff under her belt and her parents clearly favored her whenever she was around. However, when she finally confronts Becky about this, Becky admits that Nicky is far more creative (being more musically inclined) and is far stronger than she is.
• Hiding Behind Your Bangs: Her long hair goes with her soft-spoken and bookish personality. By the finale, she no longer has bangs with both of her eyes clearly visible, reflecting how she's more social.
• Holier Than Thou: Despite being the Only Sane Man, Nicky can do some rather questionable things to uphold her perfect reputation. One example being in "Permanent Record", where she plots to break into the office to remove a slip from her record. Even Pepper Ann tells her this is insane.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: What Nicky lacks in winning Pepper Ann and Milo's respect, she makes up for it in being an awesome friend.
• Large Ham: During her mood swings.
• Mood-Swinger: She's proven capable of changing to very strong anger when the situation calls for it.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: She has noodle-shaped arms like everyone else, but is still pretty strong.
• Never My Fault: Nicky's main flaw is that when she gets hurt or makes a mistake, she refuses to accept it and always makes herself out to be the victim.
• Nice Mean And In Between: The soft-spoken, wise and somewhat timid Nicky is the Nice to Pepper's Mean and Milo's In-Between.
• Not So Above It All: Doesn't agree with P.A and Milo on most things, but she is not hesitant to have fun with them.
• Only Sane Woman: When she is not having her random outbursts, Nicky is close to being the only normal person in Hazelnut.
• Pride: Nicky can get too full of herself to admit whenever she messes up.
• Reformed Bully: When Pepper Ann first met her, she was the class bully. It's revealed that this was largely due to resentment towards her overachieving older sister Becky, and she reforms soon after.
• Shrinking Violet: She’s pretty meek and shy.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Demure as she looks, never underestimate her.
• The Smart Guy: She's very book-smart.
• Town Girls: The Femme to Pepper Ann's Butch and Trinket's Neither.
• The Unfavorite: Her parents favor Becky over her.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The very same episode dealt with PA trying to help Nicky figure out why she was so afraid of swans. It led to PA realizing that her fear probably stemmed from her feelings of resentment towards her older sister Becky in a sort of The Ugly Duckling transference. Nicky conceded that actually made sense. Subverted, though, when Becky states she's afraid of swans too, revealing the real reason to be a frightening swan toy they used to have.

Milo Kamalani

Voiced by: Danny Cooksey^{Other VAs} Luis Daniel Ramírez (Latin American Spanish), Claudi Domingo (European Spanish), Alessio De Filippis (Italian)

One of Pepper Ann's two best friends. He is a very eccentric and highly dramatic hippie artist.

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• Camp Straight: His two best friends are girls and he has effeminate tendencies, but he is in love with Gwen Mezzrow.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He doesn't seem to always be on the same wavelength as everyone else.
• Fan of Underdog: He always roots for the losing team, but he's such a nonconformist, he'd rather they lose.
• G-Rated Stoner: Has a laidback attitude, tends to speak in Non Sequiturs, wears baggy, colorful clothes, and there are times he doesn't seem to be aware of his own surroudings.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: He is the peacemaker of Pepper's circle of friends, which consists of him, Nicky and Pepper herself. Sometimes, he even dresses up in drag as part of PA's plans and actually likes it.
• One of the Girls: One episode revolves around him trying to do some male bonding. He tries to do stereotypical masculine things, but then learns that bonding with guys is easy and not that different from bonding with girls.
• The Muse: One episode shows him talking to one, similar to Pepper Ann talking to her reflection.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: It's not every day you see a hippie in seventh grade.
• Nice Guy: Milo is an all-around decent and friendly person.
• Nice Mean And In Between: The laid-back, cool, but fun-loving peacemaker Milo is the In-Between to Pepper Ann's Mean and Nikki's Nice.
• Platonic Life-Partners: His two best friends are girls, but the trio is not sweet on each other.
• Signature Headgear: Part of his everyday wardrobe is his purple beanie hat.
• Token Minority: In a main-character cast of Two Girls and a Guy, both girls are white, and he's dark-skinned.
• Undying Loyalty: Regardless of how many times P.A has wronged him, the two will always reconcile at the end.

Margaret Rose "Moose" Pearson

Voiced by: Pamela Adlon^{Other VAs} Alan Fernando Velazquez (Latin American Spanish), Gemma Ibáñez (European Spanish), Maura Cenciarelli (Italian)

Pepper Ann's tomboyish little sister.

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• Daddy's Girl: P.A and Moose love to spend time with their dad whenever he comes to visit.
• Deadpan Snarker: Fitting with her stoic personality, the delivery of her funny lines is consistently deadpan.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible to Pepper Ann's Foolish.
• Hates Wearing Dresses: Just like another tomboyish character played by Pamela Segall, Moose dislikes wearing dresses.
• Lady Looks Like a Dude: She can be mistaken for a boy pretty easily, both the characters and by the audience. Her own uncle didn't even realize she was a girl for several years until one time at Thanksgiving dinner.
• Mature Younger Sibling: She is much more sensible than her older sister.
• One of the Boys: She's even more tomboyish than Pepper Ann!
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her real name is Margaret Rose, but no one ever uses it.
• Only Sane Woman: Whenever Nicky and Milo aren’t around, Moose will try to talk some sense into her sister.
• The Stoic: She doesn't show much emotion on the series.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Looks more like her father than her mother.
• Tomboyish Voice: Has a deep husky voice, notably more masculine than the actual boy characters her voice actress has done in other shows. You could have her be voiced by a man and it would have literally no effect on the character, whatsoever.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Moose got that name when she was just a few hours old and a young Dieter Lederhosen discovered a bowl of chocolate mousse on Lydia's nightstand in the hospital. Nobody really got what he meant, everybody thought he had said "Moose" as a nickname for the baby. It stuck.

Lydia Pearson

Voiced by: April Winchell^{Other VAs} Rebeca Manriquez (Latin American Spanish), Julia Gallego (European Spanish)

Overprotective divorced perky mother of Pepper Ann and Moose.

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• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Lydia occasionally slips into this, but especially when she took Pepper Ann bra shopping.
• Amicably Divorced: From her former husband. Lifestyle seems to have been the main reason they split up since his job required him to travel a lot. Whenever the two interact it's clear they still get along fine, even if they do engage in a bit of ribbing.
• Big Beautiful Woman: Very chubby, but still attractive and quite a few men remark how pretty she is.
• Family Theme Naming: She is the last family member to have a name that starts with L.
• The Fashionista: She works at a clothing store where the clientele is made up of working women, mothers, and full-figured gals like herself. They all rely on Lydia's professional opinions and good taste when it comes to finding outfits that make them look amazing. In fact, the store was likely to close after Lydia quit because all the customers stopped coming when they found out she wasn't there. One woman was legitimately distraught, insisting she needed Lydia Pearson.
  Customer: I need Lydia, no one else! What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do now?! The bat mitzvah is Saturday!
• Generation Xerox: Punishes Pepper Ann for sneaking out to a party, but then Pepper Ann finds Lydia's diary from when she was in middle school and learns that Lydia also sneaked out of the house without her parent's permission.
• Genki Girl: Seems to run in the family.
• Glamorous Single Mother: Averted, and in one episode she has an entire comedy act around how not glamorous it is.
• Good Parents: Her habit of embarrassing Pepper Ann aside, Lydia is a loving and wise mother who is usually understanding and fair to her often rascally daughter.
• Hartman Hips: A rare overweight example.
• Jewish Mother: Subverted. Lydia is Jewish — or at least, celebrates Jewish holidays to keep with tradition, but doesn't act like a stereotypical Jewish mom.
• Large Ham: An April Winchell specialty.
• Mama Bear: Lydia is hinted at having this side to her. One time, she physically threatens a waiter who is making her late for Pepper Ann's play.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Looks like a plus sized version of her eldest daughter with different glasses and a hairdo.

More Kids and Grown-Ups

Janie Diggety

Voiced by: Susan Tolsky^{Other VAs} Maggie Vera (Latin American Spanish), Aurora Ferrándiz (European Spanish), Raffaella Castelli (Italian)

Lydia's little sister and Pepper Ann and Moose's aunt, who served as a Green Beret.

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• Annoying Younger Sibling: When she and Lydia were growing up, and sometimes she still bugs Lydia.
• Drop-In Character: Often drops in on Lydia's side of the duplex they share.
• Family Theme Naming: Defied. Names starting with L were a theme in her family. Janie was originally meant to be named Lanie, but the L was accidentally written the wrong way around.
• Genki Girl: Just like Lydia and Pepper Ann, she has this Shared Family Quirks.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Has one with Lydia, though it is normally rather amicable.
• Granola Girl: Particularly notable in flashbacks.
• Happily Married: To Jojo Diggety.
• New-Age Retro Hippie: Which just makes her military background that much more whimsically bizarre.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Looks just like Lydia with a different pair of glasses and hairdo.

Jojo Diggety

Voiced by: Tino Insana^{Other VAs} Homero Villareal (Latin American Spanish), Eduardo Muntada (European Spanish)

A police officer and Pepper Ann’s uncle.

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• Big Fun: An honest officer of the law and an all-around fun guy.
• Donut Mess with a Cop: Funnily enough subverted. Jojo tried to eat healthy most of the time. Given his wife is a bit of a health nut, it makes sense.
• Nice Guy: A jolly and honest man who gets along well with his nieces and always wants what’s best for his wife and his son.

Craig Bean

Voiced by: Jeff Bennett^{Other VAs} Enzo Fortuny (Latin American Spanish), Ángel de Gracia (European Spanish), Luigi Ferraro (Italian)

A popular 8th grade boy who Pepper Ann has a huge crush on.

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• Cool Shades: Never seen without them.
• Mad Libs Catch Phrase: "Hey Pearson! Cool [x]!"
• Nice Guy: A very easy-going and kind guy, it is no wonder so many folk admire him.
• Official Couple: It takes until they are adults, but Pepper Ann and Craig finally get together in the finale.
• Ship Tease: There are some heavy hints Craig returns Pepper Ann’s feelings. He even wrote a song for her.

Trinket St. Blair

Voiced by: Jenna von Oÿ^{Other VAs} Maggie Vera (Latin American Spanish), Nuria Llop (European Spanish)

A spoiled rich girl and Pepper Ann’s nemesis.

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• Academic Alpha Bitch: She’s actually a pretty good student.
• Brutal Honesty: Will speak her mind whenever she’s onscreen.
• Foil: To Pepper Ann. They’re both blunt girls, but Trinket is a lot more pleasant and friendly than Pepper Ann. She even has good reasons for hating her.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Trinket is condescending, rich and spoiled, but she’s really not so bad once you get to know her and doesn’t mean any harm.
• Phoneaholic Teenager: It’s a rare occasion when she isn’t seen without her phone.
• Spoiled Sweet: Rich and spoiled, but also a good friend.
• Valley Girl: Like any other character played by Jenna Von Oy.
• With a Foot on the Bus: She goes to boarding school in the aptly named "Bye Bye Trinket", only to come back home because there’s no cellphone reception.

Dieter Lederhosen

Voiced by: Jeff Bennett^{Other VAs} Josué Cortéz and Irwin Daayán (Latin American Spanish), Juan Miguel Valdivieso (European Spanish), Roberto Certoma (Italian)

• Big Fun: Jolly and boisterous to be around.
• Chick Magnet: A lot of girls are in love with him.
• Expy: He's the Üter of the series.
• Funny Foreigner: His parents hail from the great land of Germany, ja? Although Dieter himself was born in Hazelnut, the trope fits him to a tee.
• Keet: Always in a happy mood and enthusiastic.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: Dieter’s got a heart as big as his girth.
• Opaque Nerd Glasses: His eyes are never seen.
• Sixth Ranger: Occasionally joins Pepper Ann, Nicky and Milo on their wacky mishaps.

Tessa and Vanessa James

Voiced by: Cree Summer^{Other VAs} Veronica Lopez Trevino [Tessa] and Gaby Beltran [Vanessa] (Latin American Spanish), Berta Cortés [Tessa] and Joël Mulachs [Vanessa] (European Spanish)

• Family Theme Naming: They are twins whose names rhyme.
• Gossipy Hens: Always on the look out for the latest scoop.
• Incest Subtext: Tessa and Vanessa are much closer than most sisters should normally be. They never appear without the other, finish each other’s sentences, compliment each other in a gushing fashion and in the one time they fought, Vanessa made Pepper Ann her "new twin" to make Tessa jealous after a brief breakup. In said episode, they even say they can't live without each other.
• Single-Minded Twins: They are always Finishing Each Other's Sentences.

Cissy Rooney

Voiced by: Kath Soucie^{Other VAs} Cristina Hernández and Denice Lodoza (Latin American Spanish), Aurora Ferrándiz (European Spanish)

• Big Guy, Little Guy: She's often paired up with Trinket, to whom she's one head taller (literally, not necessarily in the sense of the trope).
• Black Bead Eyes: She'd be Ms. Fanservice if it wasn’t for these.
• The Cutie: Sweet and cute as a button.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Cissy isn’t in good control of her reflexes.
• Dumb Blonde: Not the brightest bulb and she has platinum blonde hair.
• Huge Schoolgirl: Arguably the tallest female student at Pepper Ann's class, about one head taller than most of the other students.
• Like Is, Like, a Comma: Her Verbal Tic. Not even getting hit by a soccer ball will make her break that habit.
  Cissy: Uncle Frank? Is that, like, you?
• Obfuscating Stupidity: "I’m not really a dumb blonde, I just perpetuate the image to be less intimidating to others."
• Valley Girl: Looks and talks like one.

Gwen Mezzrow

Voiced by: Kimmy Robertson^{Other VAs} Irene Jimenez (Latin American Spanish), Maria del Mar Tramarit (European Spanish), Paola Valentini (Italian)

• Full-Name Basis: She’s always referred to as “Gwen Mezzrow”.
• Girlish Pigtails: She sports these along with freckles.
• Serial Homewrecker: She has the makings of one. Gwen once openly admitted to being more attracted to Milo when he was supposedly dating Pepper Ann. Nicky bluntly informed Gwen that makes her a homewrecker.

Alice Kane

Voiced by: Lauren Tom^{Other VAs} Gaby Ugarte (Latin American Spanish)

A studious, but pompous student at Pepper Ann's class who appears often as her academic rival.

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• Academic Alpha Bitch: She takes pleasure in belittling anyone she considers below her academic level, especially Pepper Ann.
• Always Someone Better: The reason Pepper Ann resents her so much. She would always win the Science Fair every year, and rub her success in Pepper Ann's face.
• Asian and Nerdy: Never explicitly stated, but the fact that she's voiced by Asian-American actress Lauren Tom, and her Unfortunate Character Design (see Yellow Peril below) seem to imply that she's Asian.
• Full-Name Basis: Everyone always refers to her as "Alice Kane", never just "Alice"
• Malicious Misnaming: "P-Ann". Pepper Ann cringes at the hearing of that nickname.
• Sitcom Archnemesis: Whenever she appears to Pepper Ann, you are rest assured that a bitter rivalry is bound to start.
• The Social Darwinist: The "Straw Meritocrat" type. When she ran for Student Body President in "Complimentary Colors", her platform included "3 day weekends" and "self-grading" for straight-A students.
• Yellow Peril: Downplayed as she's not a villain, merely an antagonist, but she's just short the Asian Buck Teeth and squinted eyes to fulfill the stereotype. She wears large, round glasses, like a caricature of Hideki Tojo; and her hairstyle (a bowl haircut with a ponytail at the top of the head) is reminiscent of a Manchurian queue.

Principal Hickey

Voiced by: Don Adams^{Other VAs} Yamil Atala (Latin American Spanish), Eduardo Muntada (European Spanish)

The principal at Hazelnut Middle School.

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