New School Year Brings New Staff Members

It is a new school year, and that means new people here at Dimond High School.

Not only there are new students, but there are also new staff members.

New Dimond staff include teachers, counselors and administrators.

Jennifer Buck is Dimond’s new counselor.

Buck has been a counselor for about 13 years, She was  recently at Mears Middle School.

“I decided to be a counselor at Dimond, so that I could challenge myself with more opportunities,” Buck said.

Buck also talks about how different Dimond is from Mears.

“Compared to Mears, Dimond is a much bigger school. It also has more opportunities to steer students and to help them with college once they done with high school. Overall, I really like Dimond. The atmosphere, students, staff and how comfortable this school really is,” Buck said.

Not only does Dimond have a new counselor, they also have a new Fine Arts teacher.

Andrea Black is now the choir teacher here at Dimond, taking the place of Charlotte Smurthwaite.

Black has been teaching choir for three years.

Black explains why she chose to teach at Dimond.

“Since I’m from Oregon, I really wanted to move to Alaska so I could be closer to my boyfriend. Since my boyfriend is also the wrestling coach here at Dimond, I thought it was the perfect job to work here,” she said.

“I really like it here at Dimond. I think that this school is really great and the students are awesome,” Black said.

There are also new administrators in Dimond.

Kaci Stephens is Dimond’s new Freshmen House assistant principal.

Stephens has been working all around the school district.

“Before being an administrator at Dimond, I did many things in the Anchorage School District. I worked at the Office Curriculum and instruction, was a Teacher Expert and did many more,” Stephens said.

Stephens also explains why she is at Dimond.

“I didn’t really choose to go to Dimond. I was placed here by Ms. Johnson-Harris. She asked me to be the administrator here. I also had fantastic experiences when I visited Dimond,” Stephens explains.

She tells how being at Dimond is different from her other jobs.

“From my past jobs, I did a lot of different things. Being an administrator I get to work more with teachers and students and communicate with their parents.

“I also work with the principal and help with Response to Intervention (RTI). So far being here at Dimond, I love it. The kids are great and the teachers are great,” Stephens said.

Katie Lindsey is a new history teacher at Dimond. She has been teaching for four years full time and about a year part time.

“I actually started teaching here at Dimond for a while, but then taught at Service High School for three years, and then came back to teach here this year. I mostly taught History, but I also taught English,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey tells why she came back to teach at Dimond.

“Since I graduated here, I felt like Dimond was still my territory. I also know most of the teachers here, with some being my teachers when I was a student.

“I also thought it would be fun to have them as co-workers. I really love it here at Dimond. It has a great atmosphere, good cultures and the students and teachers here are great,” Lindsey said.