School begins in Haines next Tuesday. Although staffing is full, many are new to the district – and to town. 11 new employees are getting ready for the first day of school. We went to meet them.

 

Despite a statewide teacher shortage, the Haines school is fully staffed for the year. The school hired an assistant principal, a new cook and nine new teachers. 

Principal Lily Boron is helping them get familiarized with their new workplace. Almost half the certified teachers this year are new hires.

Boron: “It can seem a little overwhelming, but truthfully, I’m excited about it. We are bringing a lot of experience into our school district, and I have this vision of opening the windows and letting some fresh air in.”

Boron says she tries to see the town and the school with new eyes.

Boron: “You have to change your perspective and say ok, when I walk in this building, what don’t I know? And it’s everything. We just got finished driving them around town, just kind of drove them around the community so they can orient themselves and can appreciate the beauty and all the opportunities that we have in this community.” 

Katie Polcyn is the new high school math teacher. She spent the last 11 years teaching in Shaktoolik, a small village near Nome that has about the same number of residents as the Haines school has students.

Polcyn: “I‘m looking forward to getting to know everyone and going on this journey through mathematics together.”

Polcyn says her largest class will be 17 students, almost twice as large as at her previous job. She says she enjoyed seeing the technology that is available in the classroom.

Polcyn: “The internet is a lot faster here than it was in Shaktoolik.”

Stojanka Lynch is the new k-4 music teacher. She is the only new teacher to have lived in Haines, where she grew up.

Lynch: “I have taught personally, I have taught piano lessons for the last seven or eight years.”

Lynch says that she looks forward to practicing with students for the winter and spring concerts. She plans on making her class a playful place, and meeting the students where they are.

Lynch: “So say we are wanting to do a group project, or game, and somebody is not feeling it, we have this plug in drum set that kids can bang as hard as they want and get that energy, and when they are ready to come back, they are ready to come back and join.”

Zak Tourville is the new high school science teacher. He has taught for more than 25 years. He began his career in California, and went to graduate school in Fairbanks. He then taught a physics lab class at UAF. He says going back to school humbled him.

Tourville: “All of a sudden, I had the experience of struggling in class, which growing up I didn’t, the math and science was really easy for me. But I now know what it’s like to be a student who is struggling in class and really frustrated with it. So I have much more empathy for my students now.”

Jens and Mindy Jacobsen moved to Haines from Minnesota. Mindy is the new middle school science teacher, and her husband Jens is the new assistant principal. 

Jens Jacobsen: “First and foremost I’m going to help student with their needs, whatever that may be, I’m also going to help with the federal programs side of things, and I’m also going to be the district test coordinator.”

All staff and students will enjoy the cuisine of Ryan Parker, the newly hired cook. Parker was the owner and chef of a popular local restaurant, Raevyn’s cafe.

Class starts next Tuesday morning, at 8.25