Now that I’m not a cub reporter anymore, I’m much more cognizant that the start of high school is clearly a philosophical matter.
It is a beginning, of course, but for some, like the freshmen, it’s the beginning, of four years of hard work, studying, fun and the occasional rough patch.
In other words, lifetime memories will be made, for better or for worse.
But for some, like Angela Ziola, it’s the beginning of the end. Last week was the last, first week for the Advanced Placement psychology teacher at Riverside-Brookfield High School. She’s retiring after 32 years at RB at the end of this school year.
Talk about the memories. But while it would be tempting to focus on the whole idea of “one more day til I’m done,” that’s not Ziola’s gig. She prefers to live in the moment.
In other words, psychologically speaking, I got the sense that it’s hard for her to think about the end of this chapter of her life when I sat down with her Friday in her classroom.
“That part of it is hard to accept,” she said. “I’m still putting things back in my binder, thinking that I’m going to take the binder home with me at the end of the year, but I’m not sure what I will do”
Now juxtapose Ziola with math teacher Adal Samaniego, finishing his very first full week at school.
So … how did it go?
“It’s going really good,” he told me. “Nervous. My first day of class I asked my freshmen, ‘Who’s nervous? Show of hands.’ Just like them, I was raising my hand.”
Samaniego coaches football and he equated teaching to that experience. When you get past that first play from scrimmage, that first hit – that first lesson — you’re good to go.
That said, Samaniego told me he has clearly defined goals for this school year.
“Professionally, just to grow as a lesson planner, to make lessons engaging for my students,” he said. “I feel like some students aren’t very used to collaborative group work. I feel like them doing them the work for themselves, them leading the lesson rather than me up front, I think that’s one of my goals.”
Goals are ubiquitous this year, all across the spectrum. Superintendent Dr. Kevin Skinkis has two of them. First up is finalizing an agreement with Brookfield Zoo and the Cook County Forest Preserve that will allow the campus improvement construction project to commence this school year. The other is identifying new opportunities for students to gain college and/or career readiness by increasing dual-credit opportunities at Triton College, new AP class offerings and creating new partnerships for students to pursue career pathways.
He’s not the only one with goals. School board president Deanna Zalas is going to be working hard on her twin goals.
“This year, we will work to negotiate a fair and reasonable agreement with our union,” she said. “The current contract includes some well-regarded terms, and I am confident we will continue on this collaborative path.
“I am also optimistic that this is the year that we finally put shovels in the ground for the new athletic and activity field behind the high school,” she added. “This is not only an investment in financial resources, but it also represents a significant investment in time and effort from the district to finally get us to this place, and it will be such an improvement for our students and the overall campus.”
With the help of District 208’s communications lead Kiley Fletcher, we tracked down principal Dr. Hector Freytas, who might be the very definition of Bulldog pride. This day, he was wearing a blue RB t-shirt under his suit coat. I asked him about his goals for the school year.
“First of all, I want our students to feel valued, connected and appreciated,” he said. “Every day, they should feel safe. I want them to feel connected with a subject, with a teacher, with an activity, with a sport. I want them to feel valued; their voices are heard.”
High school is about the students, like freshmen Jonah Podrid and Lukas Bursua.
Fletcher and I went to the library and recruited the pair to answer the key question on every freshman mind.
Are you nervous? Now, be honest.
“I was nervous, but I’m starting to get used to my schedule all that,” Podrid said.
Added Bursua: “I was nervous the first few days, but after I started to get used to my schedule, it became a lot simpler to get around the building.”
But are you havin’ fun?
Yep. Podrid said he likes high school better than middle school, at least so far.
“I’m liking high school a lot more,” Bursua added. “Lunch is better.”
Always a plus. I didn’t stay for lunch, but Fletcher and I did drop by RBTV’s studios, complete with an ESPN-style desk, and chatted with seniors Kai Hendricks and Henry Jurgens. Like Ziola, it’s the beginning of the end of their high school experience.
Here’s a tough one: Where do they expect to be at the end of this school year?
Once again, the focus is on goals.
“I just want to be mentally prepared for college,” said Jurgens, the first-year kicker on the football team. “I’m taking four AP courses, so being able to prepare myself for the next level of academics.”
Hendricks said his goal is to be “a lot smarter and more experienced in all the fields I’m working on.”
In addition to coaching the varsity basketball team, Mike Reingruber is a school counselor, and his goals are simultaneously different but the same.
“Seniors who are preparing for college have very different needs than freshmen who are just walking through the door for the first time,” said Reingruber, himself an RB grad. “So the goals are to do your best as an educator to help every student to have the best experience possible.”
I got the sense from Reingruber that there is an overarching message for students.
What is it?
“Getting involved in the high school experience is huge,” he said, “whether it’s being part of a team or a club or an extracurricular such as music, making sure you’re going to the dances, going to the games. The more invested you are in the high school community, generally the better experience it is.”
I asked the others what they thought.
Skinkis: “Attendance is important; show up for school every day and make every day count. Get involved; we have unlimited opportunities across athletics, fine arts and our 50+ clubs and activities.”
Zalas: “Develop good habits today that will serve you tomorrow and use the resources at RB to learn about yourself and others.”
Freytas: “At RB, we love you, we care about you and we have your back. This is a great place to be, a great school and all the adults working together here make it special.
“We’re here in the service of our students.”
