In 10 years from now, everyone will be off doing their own thing. What are you going to do? What makes you want to do this? How committed are you? Where do you see yourself?
Freshman Kyra Gibson said, “I want to be a criminal investigator. I want to be a criminal investigator because I want to understand why criminals do the things they do, and I’m planning to achieve this by staying focused in school and graduating from a good college.”
Gibson has been passionate about being a criminal investigator since she was in sixth grade, as she found it exciting and interesting.
“I have always watched documentaries with my mom and tried to solve them, and it got me into criminal investigations.”
Some students are interested in nursing.
Freshman Makhia Hall said, “In 10 years, I see myself figuring out what college I want to go to so that I can study for a nursing degree, and I’ve always been good with kids and just people in general. I’m going to achieve this by getting good grades, making sure my GPA is high, and paying attention more in classes.”
Some think nursing is maybe too hard and they give up on a dream, but Hall said to “focus on the impact you will have on patients’ lives and never give up.”
And while some freshmen do not know exactly what they’d like to do in the future yet, they still plan to make the most of high school.
Freshman Serenity Dees said, “In 10 years, I would probably be either in or graduating college, hopefully with a job of some sort and living with a friend or on my own. To achieve that, I’ll need to keep my grades up and graduate from high school in the pathway I plan to pursue.”
Some people are uncertain what they want to do with their lives when they’re older, and that’s okay. They still plan to have a fun and sustainable life.
Freshman Tryston Looney said, “I see myself in 10 years in a nice house, and I’m planning to be a police officer because I have always wanted to be one. I plan to achieve this by saving up money and working hard. I want to do this so I can live a happy and decent life in the future.”
Some may have a dream and think it’s too hard, or that they will never make it, but “fight strong and never give up on your dreams,” said Looney.
No matter how challenging their dreams are, most freshmen plan to never give up on their dreams.
Counselor Andrea Schedler’s love for educating others started from a very young age.
“I can vividly remember just playing school and baby dolls. And then in third grade I remember somebody asking me well what do you want to be when you grow up and I was like ‘I want to be a teacher’,” said Schedler.
As you can see Schedler always knew she wanted to work with children and when she got older she started working at a daycare, which led her to major in elementary education and earn a minor in psychology. These are the experiences that have led her to where she is now.
Schedler’s day begins when she steps into her second-floor office to prepare for all her incoming freshman meetings. She starts off by preparing a folder for each student with all the information they’ll need for freshman year and to make sure they get to know her as well.
“One of my main goals as a counselor is to make sure every freshman know who I am because I hate when people say, ‘I didn’t even know who my high school counselor was’.”
For the past three years that Schedler has been a Jeff High counselor she has also been working on a new goal to increase resources for teens and their mental health, and this is important to her because she wants students to know that those resources are available to them and also so they can feel more comfortable at school.
It’s Schedler’s commitment to her students that makes her the best at what she does.
“Freshman year she just helped me get through it ´cause I was fresh to high school coming from middle school, so it was a big change but she helped me out,” said sophomore Carter Durbin.
Junior Cash Waters agreed. “During freshman year she really helped me get comfortable with this school and get to know everybody.”
When Schedler welcomes her freshmen she likes to offer them advice for the school year.
“Get involved in something, whether it’s a sport, club or other upcoming school activities so that you can have a group of friends and people that you can trust. And always have a trusted adult.”
English 9 teacher David Kummer teaches freshman Harper Gordon with her assignment on August 6. The class is working on what he calls a No Red Ink assignment. Photo by Malachi Conrad.
As summer comes to an end, a new start has begun for many freshmen and staff. It’s that time of the year when you meet new people and begin new friendships.
Beginning at a new school can be unfamiliar, but with the help of friendships, it will make life calmer.
A foundation of support has guided freshman Alexis Guadalupe. “At first, I felt lost. I didn’t know where I was going. I had friends to help me, and I figured my way out. It’s interesting seeing old faces and new faces from different middle schools. Being all together feels good.”
The new environmental changes might be sudden, but Guadalupe stays on track with his schedule.
“Nothing really changes. I always wake up at the same time every single day. It isn’t really a change for me, but when leaving school, that is a change for me. It is a little crowded every time I try to leave school, but it’s okay, I still get on the bus on time,” he said.
Guadalupe plans to take courses that will help with next school year.
“I’m taking regular classes right now. But I’m going to try and take an honors class next year in English.” He recalls moments from River Valley Middle School and shares how teachers showed great support by teaching to their best abilities and being open to talk about anything when needed.
Freshman Elliott Taylor is intimidated by the size of the school in comparison to his previous years.
“I was most scared of how big the school is. My fourth and fifth periods are far away from each other, and I usually end up tardy,” he said.
Taylor isn’t stressed about the new year, and is starting off his high school years with good grades.
“I’m feeling pretty good about my classes. I have all A’s as of now, and the work isn’t too hard so far.”
In comparison to his previous school years, his freshman year is flowing much better. “I went to River Valley Middle School last year. The teachers this year and the classes are a lot better.”
Taylor has a certain class and teacher who has stood out to him so far. In comparison to previous years, “My favorite class this year is Algebra honors with Mr. (Scott) Lowe. He’s really nice to us, and he’s a great teacher.”
Starting high school can be a lot for a student, but Taylor already has a set plan for what he wants to do with his school career.
“In sophomore year, I would like to stay in honors classes and go into welding.”
College and careers teacher Angela Krueger loves being a freshman teacher so she can set her students on a path for success.
“I like being a freshman teacher because it’s a new school, a new environment, and I can help them set up their academies and pathways, and it makes me feel like I make a difference.”
Krueger went through years of school just so she could make sure she gives her students a good education.
“I went to IUS with a bachelor’s in psychology, and then I got my master’s in education at University of Cumberland. It took six years in total.”
Krueger has a few tips that may help incoming freshmen do better in school.
“You should take your classes seriously, and especially this college and careers class. It is probably your most important class, and can help you carve your entire high school career.”
Even with personal struggles, Krueger still has a goal to build a bond with her new students. “I’m about to go on maternity leave, but I hope I can still build a relationship with my students just as I did last year.”
Freshman Maddie Tetley agreed with Guadalupe and shared her experience bringing herself into a new environment,
“I was intimidated about the size of the school, so I was nervous that I was going to get lost, but now that it’s been a few days, the school doesn’t seem as big and I’m making my way around easily,” she said.
Tetley looks forward to participating in clubs and teams in hopes of academic improvement and experience.
“I’ll be on the golf team, hopefully the swim team, and as for classes, hopefully I’m in all or most of the honors, or the AP classes next year.”
School counselor Andrea Schedler encourages students to get involved in a new community of people and activities to find new aspirations.
I think that is key to high school, being involved in things and finding a passion you might want to pursue in the future.”
Freshman Counselor Andrea Schedler
“I would definitely encourage them to branch out and get to know more new people and participate in new opportunities that they haven’t had before. I think that is key to high school, being involved in things and finding a passion you might want to pursue in the future,” Schedler said.
Schedler has focused the past three years as a freshman counselor as well as relying on years of experience to mentor her students.
“This is my third year at Jeff High as a freshman counselor, but I’ve been an educator for 18 years.”
She attended the University of Kentucky as an undergraduate, earned her elementary education degree, and minor in psychology. She also attended Eastern Kentucky for her master’s and ranked one for school counseling.
Freshman Kaylee Borelli said, “I wasn’t stressed, I just didn’t want to get lost when I got here.”
Her favorite class is also math teacher Cory Densford, and she sees herself taking AP honors classes like dual credit chemistry, Honors English, and Honors Algebra, as well as doing volleyball and being on the yearbook staff in the future.
Freshman algebra teacher Patricia Midkiff shows support to her students by demonstrating adaptive teaching techniques.
“I have people in pairs so that they have additional people to work with. I also model in front of the classroom quite a bit. I do extensive examples and we slowly build in what we’re doing in class,” she said.
Midkiff shows additional support throughout the course of the year by reviewing topics with students.
“I will work as hard as you do. What I mean by that is, I always try to motivate people, but if you are working in my class and you’re still struggling, I will work with you as much as we need to, to get you through,” she said.
Midkiff shares advice to encourage incoming freshmen in their journeys. “You succeed in your responsibility. If you want to be successful in high school, you need to take initiative.”
Every year, the incoming freshmen class gets dropped into the deep end at JHS. Most of them, for a while, don’t have any good advice that they can find because it’s not something people ask.
Freshman Harper Gordon was “absolutely terrified” for high school. She sat back and sighed, then continued talking about her years in middle school and how she came from a public Montessori school, and she “had no idea how her first time in a traditional public school was going to look like.”
She is now happy to be here, making new friends and sees herself taking regular classes and in the Hyphen in her following years here at JHS.
English 9 teacher Eric Watson said he couldn’t wait for the school year to start so he can teach all his new lessons.
“Every year, teachers want to change up their lesson plan so they grow as a teacher and learn new things themselves.” He says his new freshman classes are all amazing, and they are fast-paced learners.
English 9 teacher David Kummer helps freshman Dakota Jeat with her assignment on August 6 during his fourth period class. Kummer is demonstrating his ability to teach students efficiently. Photo by Malachi Conrad.
English 9 teacher David Kummer had a lot of tips for freshmen.
“One thing I tell my students the most is to try and find a class that they look forward to,” he said. “I think a lot of freshmen coming in this year are outgoing; the ones that are very outgoing are talkative, but also are able to buckle down and do their work.”
Kummer also had one more piece of advice for incoming freshmen:
“It gets a lot easier trying to find new friends as the year goes on. Maybe say ‘hi’ to the people you sit next to. Even if it’s nerve-wrecking, it helps out and makes things easier.”
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