New school year brings new teachers
As the school welcomes the incoming freshman class to the school this September, new teachers also arrive. These teachers have left their previous positions to become generals and are excited to become part of the school community.
New teachers include art teacher Ms. Erin Burns and physics teacher Mr. Bill Chamblee who both left for one year, library assistant Jeannie Sklar from Gunston Middle School, HILT counselor Ms. Jessica Benitez, counselor Ms. Mariam Amarir, Assistant Principal Ms. Carmen De La Cruz Scales, and instructional assistant Ms. Jocelyn Boateng-Clarke.The school welcomes all of these teachers into the community. Here are some interviews with the other new teachers joining the school this year:
Mr. Kevin Healy is a Special Education teacher from Langley High School. He will be taking the role of Head Coach for the varsity baseball team. Mr. Healy coached baseball at Langley for 13 years and taught there for 12, six years as a special education teacher and six as a Social Studies teacher.
Q: What differences do you expect between Langley and here?
A: In terms of the day to day stuff it’s a block schedule just like Langley, another thing I’ve noticed is that the paperwork always changes so there are six years of rules and regulations that I don’t really know about yet. That’s really the main thing, I’m teaching stuff that I have a background in so that won’t be too different, but every year you have to learn the personalities of all the new kids kind of like coaching.
Q: Why do you teach Special Education?
A: When I first started coaching at Langley, I needed a job. My first year they brought me in as an instructional aid and I worked with students with autism. The next year, a full time job opened up so I took that and then I got my certification and stuff done. I call it a backdoor way of getting into teaching but I lucked out because I loved it.
Q: What are you looking forward to and what are you nervous about?
A: It’s almost like my first day of high school too. I’m excited to learn some things about the baseball program and bring some stuff that I liked doing at Langley and mix it in. I guess I’m just a little nervous about getting into the rhythm of things and getting to know everybody that I need to know.
