Earlier this year the newspaper interviewed two new staff members at York High School, the assistant principal, Mr. Hodsdon and the student resource officer, officer Ochs. Both were asked about their past experience, York students, and what they hope to accomplish here in the years to come.
When asked about York students, Mr. Hodson described them as respectful and caring towards one another, creating a high character culture and making him excited to come to work every day. One of his major goals is to build positive relationships with students, and so far with this in mind, has been making efforts to be visible throughout the school day, greet students in the morning, and to attend sporting events. Another goal of his is building school pride/spirit he acknowledged that not having the stadium during the fall season made it difficult to truly discern spirit levels, however he still intends to focus on this. A mindset that he encourages is that we are all wildcats, and when someone does something well it’s a reflection on all of us. He shared his hopes that when students leave they had a good experience and are well prepared for the world, and he believes York to have a strong athletic program and impressive students and teachers, putting emphasis on York’s impressive academic success. In terms of the role of Assistant Principal, he believes that the role has evolved from being a disciplinary figure, to an educational leader, and he wants students to get to know him and feel comfortable approaching him.
School Resource Officer Ochs has been in the police force for 13 years and has also been coaching basketball for the past five years. She enjoys working with youth and being a role model for students, which she attributes to her own high school experience, wherein her role model was her basketball coach who was also a detective. As a police officer she is incredibly experienced, she teaches emergency response and was the first female on the regional SWAT team. She believes her biggest responsibility as an SRO is to keep people safe, but she is also a counselor or mentor for any student that needs it. In terms of school safety she would vie for more safety measures and is actively forwarding safety ideas to superintendent Doak, which should bring peace of mind to students and teachers alike.
As it has been seen throughout the year, both new staff members have demonstrated themselves to be great additions to the school community. They are both motivated by creating a positive school environment and will continue to make positive impacts as they continue their work at York.
