Changes in the Valley School

   By: Becky O

Have you noticed some familiar teachers in some not-so-familiar roles at Valley recently? With fewer students, not as many teachers could remain on staff, so some cuts had to be made and other teachers had to switch responsibilities. Mr. Williams had to look at every teacher’s education experience, endorsements, and licensure to decide how they could best serve Valley students.

                Fourteen teachers have taken different roles this year at the secondary end of Valley. Mrs. Krambeer is now teaching Composition, Mr. Krambeer is teaching U.S. history and government, Mrs. Severson now has myth and epic and 7^th reading, Mr. Taylor is the high school resource teacher, Mr. Scheffert has become the junior high resource teacher, Mr. Tweedy now teaches physical science, Mrs. Rule is taking over SSR, Mr. Bonte is teaching the new virtual reality class, Mrs. Enyart teaches biology, Mrs. Winter is shared with Central, Mrs. Reinhardt is teaching 7^th English and Mrs. Rich is teaching 7^th social studies. Valley also has two new additions; Mr. Peterson is the new industrial technology teacher, and Ms. Berda has returned to teach physics and chemistry.  But these aren’t the only changes that are happening at Valley.

                Another thing new this school year is the lack of heaters in classrooms. The heaters are missing because of the new HVAC (heating, ventilating, air conditioning) system that is being installed. The old heaters are being replaced with new units that can also be used for air conditioning. They provide safe and healthy building conditions, and are regulated with temperature and humidity as well as "fresh air" from outdoors. While teachers are waiting for these to arrive, a few have taken a comic look at the situation. To the amusement of her students, Mrs. Hinton has made a “fireplace” in the space left after the old heater was removed. The new heaters should be in the school hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

                Mr. Williams doesn’t see any other drastic changes for the rest of the foreseeable future. The only current issue up for change is the school policy on cell phones and electronic devices used during school hours. The student council is meeting and coming up with ideas to change the policy to please the staff and student body.