Last school year, we watched numerous, well-known faces of our Groves High School staff close their chapter teaching at Groves, meaning there are many new additions to the staff this upcoming year. In fact, the English and Social Studies departments welcomed numerous new staff members, including Hunter Janness, Henry Van Faussien and Jackson Callahan.
They may be new to Groves, but this new English teacher is already sharing some of his hopes for the classroom and a little bit about who he is. Callahan is starting his first year teaching here, and he said that English was always his favorite subject in school, even though he didn’t think he was going to be a teacher at first. He found out later that he liked helping people with reading and writing, and that pushed him towards teaching. He ended up at Groves because of his student teaching experience.
“I had a really good experience as a student teacher here. I got to connect with the community…I felt welcomed here and I really wanted to come back,” Callahan said.
He also mentioned that he’s excited to meet new students this year and start building those connections again. There is one thing that Callahan hopes students will take away from his class,
“I hope they remember a love of reading, a love of finding a book that they can enjoy,” Callahan said.
Even if they don’t love every book they read in class, he just wants students to leave knowing how to find one that actually sticks with them.
Callahan is not the only teacher hoping to leave a lasting impression on the three students. Van Faussien, a new History and Excel teacher, has always wanted to spread the ideas and concepts of social studies to his students, knowing it was his favorite subject.
“Social studies is probably my favorite, like history, economics, and government, those were always my favorite classes to learn in,” Van Faussien said. “So, It was kind of a natural fit that I teach those subjects.”
Additionally, Van Faussien wants to reflect his dedication and enjoyment for social studies, to create a new learning perspective for students, and give them a passion for learning new ideas.
“I think just familiarizing myself with the curriculum and kind of building those classroom relationships, just kind of having a good first year where kids are enjoying the content in my class and want to be in my class is my goal,” Van Faussien said.
Van Faussien wants to commit to really understanding his students and knowing the variety of ways they learn to ensure that they are focusing and finding pleasure in learning.
Van Faussien, as a student at Groves himself, saw the strong dynamic and uplifting atmosphere we have here, leading him to want to teach and give students the same experience.
“I think there’s a lot of good teachers here. The experience I got from a lot of them was what inspired me to want to do it myself,” Van Faussien said. “I have wanted to teach since I was a senior when I went here. So then, pretty much the rest of my schooling career was dedicated to that.”
His familiarity with Groves helps him relate to students through challenges they may face in school, and serves as an introduction to the success they can achieve both here at Groves and in the future, leading by example.
Last but not least, Janness is joining the Groves staff this year as our new AP Economics teacher. He seems determined to make a good first impression on the students here at Groves, enough to declare a classroom decoration “vibe-off” with James Sherman, our school’s Excel 9 and Government teacher—and he might just be winning. However, Janness has made it clear that vibes aren’t quite as important as a good education, and I’m sure our AP Economics students can agree that he hasn’t fallen short in either category. Thankfully for Groves, the feeling is mutual.
“Everyone has been incredibly friendly and incredibly helpful,” Janness said. “I already kind of feel like part of the community.”
With Janess’s enthusiasm and talents as a teacher, it’s natural that our Falcons would be thrilled to welcome him into our Groves community. However, he’s made it clear that he didn’t choose to pursue a career in teaching all on his own; in fact, his interest in economics blossomed in high school, when his AP Economics professor inspired him with his own unique passion for the subject.
“I took that class as a junior, and I had a really passionate teacher. [He] really knew his stuff, and I just sort of fell in love with it,” Janness said.
Following in his teacher’s footsteps, Janess is now beginning his fifth year teaching AP Economics and is thrilled to share what he’s learned in his previous years as both a teacher and student.
“It’s just something that really changed the way…that I see the world, and so being able to teach it, I kind of like the idea of being able to do that same thing for my students,” said Janness.
He’s clearly made a great first impression with our Falcons, so to pay back that favor, let’s do everything we can to make sure Janness—as well as the rest of our new staff—experience an amazing first year at Groves!
