New Teachers

A new school year means a new set of teachers. With Principal Ehrheart having a year under the belt at PVHS, she has procured more staff from different states.

This new staff brings new ideas, experiences, and classes to the table. There are brand new electives and some of the new teachers are taking over the old classes, as some of our regular professors, have either retired (Mr. Bruce) or they gave it up because of their busy teaching other classes. The current year of 2018-2019 is already full of surprises.

PVHS has received three new English teachers (Mr. Herron, Ms. Nielsen, and Mrs. Parrish), three history teachers (Mr. Christenson, Mr. Pape, and Ms. Martin), P.E/Health teachers (Mr. Mestas and Ms. Hardsocg), two more science teachers (Ms. Culbertson and Mr. Norton), one new math teacher (Ms. Baker), and one more Special Education teacher (Mrs. Arntz).

After interviewing the new teachers, there seems to be a running theme of why they enjoy teaching here, and that would be the students. As Mrs. Arntz, a returning teacher who worked here two years ago,  said, ”I love this school, especially the students that I can work with.”

Eight of out of the twelve new teachers have taught at other schools, like Mr. Pape, a world history teacher for 14 years, who came here all the way from Lafayette High School in Virginia, or Mr. Christenson who worked at South Anchorage High School in Alaska, to which he was their student councils advisor and world history teacher.

Ms. Nielsen, one of the three new English teachers, worked at Dean Morgan, a middle school, in Wyoming before coming here. Though with this batch of new teachers, we have a returning one as well. Mrs. Arntz has joined PVHS again, she taught here two years ago, after teaching at Doral Academy, a charter school for all grades, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The unfamiliar teachers are also interested in some after-school activities and events. Such as Mr. Pape, Mr. Herron, and Ms. Nielsen who go to watch the Trojan games, and have been spotted cheering at football games. When asked about what they were interested in, Mr. Pape replied with “Watching team games”.

Some are advisors for clubs, like Mr. Christenson who does Improve Club, that meets every Monday, Mr. Herron who oversees GSA (Gay-Straight-Alliance), which meets every other Friday, and Ms. Nielsen who has taken over Drama Club, that meets every Wednesday.

When asked why they wanted to work at PVHS, those from Wyoming (Ms. Nielsen, Mr. Herron, and Mrs. Hardsocg) replied that Coach Rieger brought them to teach here at a teacher job fair, and others wanted to get away from cold weather, Mr. Christenson said “ I was tired of the cold and dark winters of Alaska”. Plus, our average weather for each season is way hotter than Alaska’s, he’s happy with how warm it is here. Though some teachers came here because of their family, like Mr. Mestas, from the Round Mountain, said his wife, who lives in Las Vegas, wanted him closer to her.

Speaking of coaches, our two new ones, Mrs. Hardsocg, and Mr. Mestas found perfect jobs for those who like being outdoors and coaching sports. Additionally, they are surprised about how much they enjoy teaching their own subjects.

We also have two teachers who are both new to the teaching world and have never taught at a school before, Mr. Herron and Mrs. Hardsocg. Mr. Herron came for the warmer weather because he knows other teachers that work here, and he can also rock climb when there’s no school, and Mrs. Harsocg wanted to teach in a different area from where she’s from.

With Ms. Nielsen’s artistic and dramatic view, plus some artsy students she has, this English teacher is accepting artwork and pictures to be in her room. Some of the other new teachers have also set up a few decorations in their rooms, like Mrs. Culbertson, the new Biology teacher, who has some large flower stickers on her walls, or Mr. Christenson who has professional looking photography shots of Alaskan nature and of his dog, Rio, above his writing boards.

The new staff will help us flourish as the years go by. Especially because they will continue to bring new ideas and teaching styles to the table.