Students and Teachers Ring in the New Year With Newfound Goals
As 2023 continues, students and staff set their sights on new short and long term goals for the year to come.
By Ariella Just Milender
As 2023 continues, students and staff set their sights on new short and long term goals for the year to come.
By Ariella Just Milender
New Year's resolutions are a time-honored tradition. With resolutions that range from going to the gym to eating cleaner and traveling, there is no shortage of goals as the past year closes and the new year begins.
Students and staff look back on their past goals and accomplishments and create new ones for the remainder of 2023. From academic to personal to work goals, there are a variety of objectives they hope to achieve.
Senior Alina Galata is hopeful to get as much done as they can before going off to college.
“I hope that 2023 is overall a more positive year. Last year was very challenging for my family and I hope this year has better things in store,” said Galata. “My main goal is to actually make it to college because I'm probably going to (a) school on the East Coast and driving cross country has been a bucket list item, so I get to kill two birds with one stone!”
New to campus last semester, history teacher Darlene Dueck hopes that 2023 will be full of involvement and connecting on campus as she continues to acclimate.
“For 2023, I want to learn more names on this campus. I’m really working hard to get to know the names of my students so that’s a big goal for me,” said Dueck. “It’s a new place for me so it’s taking a lot of time and intentionality. I write people’s names down, and take notes on what I learn about people, so it’s all about being intentional this year.”
Jackson Ryan, 11, hopes to continue to push himself academically while making an impact during the upcoming swim season.
“I want to go to CCS with my swim team relay while maintaining a good GPA. I have these goals because I look forward to going to CCS and I would like to have a lot of options in where I want to go to college,” said Ryan. “Last year, my team went to CCS and it was really fun, so trying to get there again is definitely a worthwhile goal.”
With the spring semester beginning to pick up, math department co-chair Aruna Renduchintala hopes to encourage collaboration among students.
“I would like to incorporate more team activities in math that would foster learning from peers and encouragement from each other,” said Renduchintala. “If students work together as a team, we as teachers can facilitate and give them more challenging, conceptual understanding questions than just worksheets which only help them to regurgitate the material.”
For some teachers, such as English teacher Stephanie Harvey, 2023 will be a year to fulfill long-term goals.
“A big goal of mine this year is to pass Induction and clear my credential so I can officially become a permanent rather than a probationary teacher. I have wanted to become a teacher for over a decade now, so achieving this would really make my younger self proud,” said Harvey. “Part of the steps to become a permanent teacher involves a year or two of evaluation from district evaluators, site evaluators and working with a coach from the district to ensure you are showing growth as an educator along the way. I have passed three of three evaluations so far and completed three of four Induction cycles successfully, so this is the next step forward.”
English teacher Alan Tracey hopes to build up his lesson plans for his students as he moves through the year.
“My goal is to finish this year with a good set of lessons that students find engaging, I am enthusiastic about teaching, and that students see how these connect to real life,” said Tracey.
While prioritizing his own wellness, history teacher Peter Glasser hopes to empower students for their post-high school plans.
“For my own personal goals, I’ve been thinking about my own self-care more than I really ever did, so fitness and making sure to make time for guitar every day has been really important to me,” said Glasser. “My biggest goal above all else is for everyone to walk out my room knowing that college is for them and that they’ll be happy and successful and curious when they get there.”
Students and staff look back on their past goals and accomplishments and create new ones for the remainder of 2023. From academic to personal to work goals, there are a variety of objectives they hope to achieve.
Senior Alina Galata is hopeful to get as much done as they can before going off to college.
“I hope that 2023 is overall a more positive year. Last year was very challenging for my family and I hope this year has better things in store,” said Galata. “My main goal is to actually make it to college because I'm probably going to (a) school on the East Coast and driving cross country has been a bucket list item, so I get to kill two birds with one stone!”
New to campus last semester, history teacher Darlene Dueck hopes that 2023 will be full of involvement and connecting on campus as she continues to acclimate.
“For 2023, I want to learn more names on this campus. I’m really working hard to get to know the names of my students so that’s a big goal for me,” said Dueck. “It’s a new place for me so it’s taking a lot of time and intentionality. I write people’s names down, and take notes on what I learn about people, so it’s all about being intentional this year.”
Jackson Ryan, 11, hopes to continue to push himself academically while making an impact during the upcoming swim season.
“I want to go to CCS with my swim team relay while maintaining a good GPA. I have these goals because I look forward to going to CCS and I would like to have a lot of options in where I want to go to college,” said Ryan. “Last year, my team went to CCS and it was really fun, so trying to get there again is definitely a worthwhile goal.”
With the spring semester beginning to pick up, math department co-chair Aruna Renduchintala hopes to encourage collaboration among students.
“I would like to incorporate more team activities in math that would foster learning from peers and encouragement from each other,” said Renduchintala. “If students work together as a team, we as teachers can facilitate and give them more challenging, conceptual understanding questions than just worksheets which only help them to regurgitate the material.”
For some teachers, such as English teacher Stephanie Harvey, 2023 will be a year to fulfill long-term goals.
“A big goal of mine this year is to pass Induction and clear my credential so I can officially become a permanent rather than a probationary teacher. I have wanted to become a teacher for over a decade now, so achieving this would really make my younger self proud,” said Harvey. “Part of the steps to become a permanent teacher involves a year or two of evaluation from district evaluators, site evaluators and working with a coach from the district to ensure you are showing growth as an educator along the way. I have passed three of three evaluations so far and completed three of four Induction cycles successfully, so this is the next step forward.”
English teacher Alan Tracey hopes to build up his lesson plans for his students as he moves through the year.
“My goal is to finish this year with a good set of lessons that students find engaging, I am enthusiastic about teaching, and that students see how these connect to real life,” said Tracey.
While prioritizing his own wellness, history teacher Peter Glasser hopes to empower students for their post-high school plans.
“For my own personal goals, I’ve been thinking about my own self-care more than I really ever did, so fitness and making sure to make time for guitar every day has been really important to me,” said Glasser. “My biggest goal above all else is for everyone to walk out my room knowing that college is for them and that they’ll be happy and successful and curious when they get there.”