Arguably the people who set the foundation of society are the pillars who build youth from the ground up. Mr. Michael Gasaway, principal, provided some backstory on the new human services teacher, Mr. Keith Witty.
“Keith Witty will be our new FACS teacher and boys’ varsity basketball coach. He comes to us from Edinburgh High School where he was a PE teacher and boys basketball coach for the past six years. He graduated from North Newton High School and Franklin College,” Mr. Gasaway said.
Mr. Witty started as a coach, so teaching a sit-down class is a bit different than what he is used to.
“This is my first-year teaching human services. I’ve been a PE teacher, health teacher, and kind of a resource teacher at my other jobs. So yeah, right now I am still kind of trying to learn to adjust to the curriculum, but it’s not bad,” Mr. Witty said.
Mr. Witty finds himself enjoying teaching this class, but it being his first year, it comes with challenges.
“So far, it’s been really good. We’ve had some really good students here. The content is very relevant to what’s been going on because it’s about human services. But obviously being a first year teaching the content, it’s been a little challenging. Trying to stay ahead of the content of making sure I’m getting the information out that needs to be out,” he said.
Another new teacher, Mr. Justin Boser, is far from being a rookie in this game; However, a new class may have him on his toes.
“This is my eleventh-year teaching. This year I teach PE, special Education, credit recovery, and adaptive PE. I have taught PE for 10 years and five years of special education. It has been great, but learning the credit recovery program has been a little challenging,” Mr. Boser said.
Mr. Boser enjoys high school so far, but the seventh grade is at the top of his list.
“I really enjoyed teaching PE and health to 7th graders. It was fun because I was able to help them navigate through their life transitions,” Mr. Boser said.
Among the other new teachers, there is Ms. Katelyn Robertson. Ms. Robertson did not always envision teaching, but she has now found that it is her passion.
“I didn’t plan to be a teacher. When I went to college and did my business major, I started working for various companies doing internships, and I realized I didn’t enjoy the corporation aspect, so I started doing substitution just to earn more hours and make more money since I was just starting in my career. I realized that I loved these kids, and I love the school environment. Teaching kids is one of my favorite things to do,” she said.
Mental health is important in teen life, and Mrs. Tricia Garrard revealed how long she has been in the school psychologist field.
“I’ve been a school psychologist for about 25 years. This is my fourth year in Greenwood, but it is my first in this high school. I really like the age group. I like working with teens. I think the most challenging thing, though, has been getting adjusted to the new schedule, the new people, the new staff, and just understanding how the high school works in general,” Mrs. Garrard said.
