Blast from the past
From the back of the class, to the front, these former students are now teachers
photo credit: Jessica Taylor
Now and then \\ Back when they were students at this school, Mrs. McKenna Tooke and Mr. Zach Neu were friends. “The dress code is incredibly relaxed compared to my experience here,” Mrs. Tooke said.
September 14, 2021
Instead of receiving the homework, they are now the ones giving it out.
When they were here, they were the ones learning and taking tests, but now they are teaching and grading the tests.
Alumni McKenna Tooke and Zachary Nue used to be students here, but now the roles are reversed.
Mrs.Tooke graduated in 2013 and Mr. Neu graduated in 2012.
I was kind of a troublemaker, but I loved learning and was always front row during lessons.
— Mr. Neu
Both had some of the teachers that still work here today.
“Mrs. Arp was my health and teen leadership teacher. Ms.Taylor was my world geo teacher, and Mr. Hattaway was my pre-calc and calculus teacher,” Mr. Neu said.
Mr. Neu had now Counselor Ms.Jessica Taylor his freshman year, junior year, and senior year.
“Mr. Neu was very quiet. He himself was a good kid and made good grades. He flew under the radar and was alone most of the time,” Mrs. Taylor said.
Mrs.Tooke was involved in a lot of clubs and organizations when she was here.
“I was an officer of several clubs and my senior class. I was in the NHS, student council, TAFE and sports medicine,” Mrs. Tooke said
Because the school has gotten so big, Mr. Neu has seen a lot of changes.
“For one, the school has doubled in size both student population and the building size. There are so many more organizations and clubs here now that are fully involved. I love seeing this especially being an advisor for the student council,” Mr. Neu said.
He loved learning, but could also get into mischief.
“I was kind of a troublemaker, but I loved learning and was always front row during lessons,” Mr. Neu said.
She still gets to see some of her favorite teachers that taught her favorite subjects.
“I had Mrs. Arp for health and student leadership, Ms .Taylor for world geography, AP human geography, and the teaching practicum course, Mr. Hattaway for Pre-Cal & AP Calculus, Mrs.May for AP English III & AP seminar, Coach Andrews for physics, Mrs. Gilpin for art and Coach Mitchell for AP US History,” Mrs. Tooke said.
Mrs. Tooke had Ms. Taylor for several classes.
“Mrs. Tooke was a very good student. She was very detail oriented, wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, very creative, and always had a bit of flair to every project she did,” Ms. Taylor said.
“I really enjoyed English and Calculus,” Mr. Neu said.
She knew everyone in her graduating class, but has noticed the students now do not.
“It’s much larger. We knew pretty much everyone in the whole school, whereas many of my students this year didn’t know each other on the first day of school,” Mrs. Tooke said.
