With the new school year underway, staff members Shannon Garcia, Jeff Schagrin, and Chris Kubic have moved out of the classroom and into new roles within the building.
Garcia is now a guidance counselor; Schagrin is now Associate Principal; and Kubic replaced Schagrin as Social Studies Department Chair.
These new roles have created a very different schedule for each individual.
“I feel bombarded each morning with emails, voicemails, and student requests,” Garcia said. “It was crazy at the beginning of the year with schedule changes, but now I anticipate it will smooth out and be more manageable.”
Schagrin’s day has also become more unpredictable.
“I spend a lot of time with teachers and department chairs coming up with new ideas and innovative things. I’m in charge of curriculum instruction now, and I’m currently trying to organize the ACT prep class because the juniors will be taking it March 3 this year. Since the ACT is earlier this year, everything is being moved up,” he said.
While Kubic is still in the classroom during the day, he only teaches three classes instead of five.
“I have three classes and a lot of meetings. It’s very different. I deal with things like maintenance issues, communicating information within the department and I communicate details to other departments as well,” he said.
The switches have been bittersweet for each staff member, especially for Schagrin and Garcia who no longer have daily contact with students.
“I miss having classes and sharing my love of literature. I miss seeing kids in the classroom context, and I still talk to them, but I miss the academic setting,” Garcia said.
The new positions have also created positive experiences for each staff member.
“I enjoy having time to see all the different teachers and really get a better perspective of the entire school,” Schagrin said.
Though it is early in the year, each staff member has goals for the future.
“I really want to help us as a department and faculty. We all teach the same thing in some way including values such as grit, curiosity, self-discipline.”