Southwest Bound: Faculty assignments announced
Photo Credit: Joe Chick
BV Southwest is built around a central courtyard, where students can congregate during lunch. The new school will be cutting-edge and environmentally friendly.
February 19, 2010 • Malissa Liu, Reporter
Filed under News
What does BV Southwest have to offer me? I’d make new friends, learn fresh ideas, and get brand new equipment but I’d have to leave my colleagues and my comfort zone.
This semester, many teachers are just as hesitant as students when it comes to transferring to BV Southwest.
“West has been an awesome community,” communication arts teacher Tyson Ostroski said. “I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. I’m going to miss all the students, the staff I work with, and the familiarity of it.”
Ostroski was hired last summer to be the new communication arts department chairman at BV Southwest. He is among approximately 30 BV West teachers who will be at the new school.
“I wanted a new challenge,” Ostroski said. “It’s not every day you get to open up a school. I wanted to try something new, so I just went for it.”
BV Southwest presents numerous opportunities for both students and staff that may be limited to those who remain at BV West.
“The main reason why I’m going to BV Southwest is for new leadership positions,” world languages department chairwoman Alyson Young said. “Also, the students that haven’t had a chance to be leaders here will probably get their chance.”
BV Southwest will be lacking some of the traditions that are present at BV West, which some see as a positive opportunity.
“I’m looking forward to being on the ground level of starting tradition and establishing the school culture,” Young said. “We’re going to be a small school, but yet we still have to do the big things.”
It seems as though some teachers are thoroughly ecstatic about joining the Timberwolf community.
“I want to be involved in the creation of a new school with a bunch of people who are excited about this opportunity,” Ostroski said. “We’re going to take a lot of the stuff that’s been successful at BV West and other schools and build on it.”
Some things, however, will most likely remain the same, as librarian Becca Munson pointed out.
“Since Scott Roberts is the principal, and he came from West, I don’t think there’ll be huge differences from West,” Munson said.
This idea can be reassuring to the wavering BV West student body. Other pluses of BV Southwest include its small size and closeness as a community.
“I’m looking forward to it being a significantly smaller school,” Munson said. “We’re so big here, it’s hard to know every student’s name.”
The teachers who were selected as department chairmen and chairwomen at the new school have known their assignments since last summer. For the rest of the faculty, however, the news is more recent. Teachers at BV West and BVHS were given the opportunity to state their preferences of staying in their current assignments or transferring to BV Southwest. The principals of the three schools and representatives from district office met in late January to make final decisions.
The list of teachers leaving for BV Southwest was released on Feb. 11. Because of district budget cuts, however, final staffing adjustments are still possible at all Blue Valley schools.
On the Move: BV West Teachers Assigned to BV Southwest
*Katie Bonnema, Special Education
Marilyn Brewer, Communication Arts
Buffy Christenson, Special Education
Linda Collins, Enrichment
Steven Cortez, Broadcasting/Industrial Technology
Kristi Dixon, Counseling
Wanda Eidson, Physical Education
Grace Fritz, Special Education
Layne Funk, Technology Integration Specialist
*Kevin Halfmann, Counseling
Gary Howard, Assistant Principal/Athletic Director
Jerry Holtorf, Math
Cathy Kerr, Psychologist
Kathryn Lawhorn, Social Studies
Terry Lindberg, World Language
Melissa McCarty, Science
Terry Miller, Family/Consumer Science
*Rebecca Munson, Library
Mindy Nold, Math
*Tyson Ostroski, Communication Arts
Cody Parks, Industrial Technology
Morgan Scanlon, Communication Arts
Brad Thimm, Science/Engineering
Jana Tobin, Math
*Rich Wilson, Math
Nate Winslow, Social Studies
*Alyson Young, World Language
Carolyn Zeligman, World Language
Jared Zuckerman, Debate/Communication Arts
*Denotes Department Chairperson
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