New teachers were welcomed to campus this school year to relieve the stress of the ongoing teacher shortage. In order to replace those who left last year, the admin hired six new teachers for the English, Math, Art and Graphic Design departments and two teachers to reduce class sizes. A full staff of teachers was restored for this year, and the teachers are hopeful to create an impact on their students in their first year here.

“I would like all of my students to be seen and heard,” English 11/12 teacher Jacob Hill said. “Student voice is vital to the classroom and I give students choice on as many assignments as possible. I love hearing about what brings students joy and I give them the platform to expand and share their thoughts on those things. Ultimately, I want my students to have a safe, comfortable, and positive learning environment that they can thrive in.”

Prior to 2021 when Hill began working at schools in CCSD, he worked at a school in Korea, Daeso Secondary School, for two years. The teaching environment is vastly different to what it’s like here, where responsibilities are shared between three separate teachers.

“As much as I cherish my time in Korea, I felt that it was time to move on to the next stage of my life,” Hill said. “I loved teaching out there, but I feel more fulfillment working with students in the community that I grew up in. I was there during the prime pandemic and I had not seen my family and friends in over a year. There were a lot of changes back home that I felt a need to return to.”

Previously a military corpsman, Art teacher Brandon Lafountain found his passion through medical illustration, and decided to look into education. His teaching career started at Marathon High School in the Florida Keys, but moved to Nevada after realizing that his current position didn’t fit his personality.

“I loved it because I had all the science criteria for it, so all I had to do was the art,” Lafountain said. “Then it was my art professor that actually put a little bug in my ear to look into education, and since then, I’ve pursued it. ”

Before starting in education, Graphic Design and Art teacher Jennifer Gonzalez started fashion design right out of college, then began freelance work as a graphic designer. Although she loved working primarily as an art teacher at her previous school, Cheyenne High School, she couldn’t decline the offer when Multimedia and Animation teacher and previous coworker, Monte Carman, recommended her.

“I still get to teach AP drawing and the dual credit drawing class,” Gonzalez said. “I still get to do what I came in to teaching to do, to teach art. That’s partly why I couldn’t say no coming here because graphic design is the main thing that feeds into the fashion design program. Those two things were my previous careers.”

Transferring from the K O Knudson Middle School performing arts school, English 9 teacher Corrina Terry has been working as an educator for fifteen years. After working primarily at public schools in CCSD, she’s noticed several behavioral differences in the students compared to her previous jobs.

“The students here generally want to be here,” Terry said. “I feel that this school gives them a bigger buy-in to their education that I did not see before when students were at a regular school. When students want to be here and take their grades and education more seriously, it’s half the battle for most teachers. The students listen here. They work here. They try harder to be successful here because they have a goal in mind.”

Beginning her first year as a full-time teacher, English 10 teacher Jenny Byington is figuring out how to manage a classroom after years of working as a student teacher in Idaho at Madison High School.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life,” Byington said. “When I was in college, I started out as an English major because I’ve always loved reading and writing, and along the line I ended up getting a job as a tutor. It was a lot of fun to see the students that I tutored feel more confident in themselves and grow as writers. That’s what really got me into education.”

Since the new teachers started, assistant principal Donna Besser is grateful for the positive affects that she believes they’re making on the school.

“They bring perspectives and strategies that they used in their previous schools that allow us to discuss practices and possibly create change to improve learning at our school,” Besser said. “Each of them has made a positive impact and brings their unique talents to our team.”