Mill Valley News: What was your previous job? 

Kylie Corneliusen: I was at Mill Creek teaching PE for two years and before that, I taught high school in Manhattan. 

MVN: All right, tell me about your background. Where’d you grow up? Where’d you go to college? 

KC: I grew up on the other side of K-7 Highway and I went to De Soto High School. I played volleyball in college for two years and then I finished at K-State. I just loved Manhattan so I stayed out there for a little bit.

MVN: What are your hobbies? What are you doing in your free time? 

KC: I’m very high energy, so I like to work out and go to the lake, go to the pool and be outside. On my bucket list is to do a half marathon, but that hasn’t happened yet. 

MVN: What made you come to Mill Valley? 

KC: Crazy enough, I got the volleyball coaching job first when I was teaching in Manhattan still, so I knew I wanted to be a head coach. Then I kind of just landed here, and then the teaching job came up at Mill Creek, so it all just worked out.

MVN: How long have you been teaching? 

KC: This will be my fifth year. I started my first year as a fourth-grade classroom teacher in Junction City, out by Manhattan, and I liked that but I knew my heart was in PE and coaching. 

MVN: What did you want to be before you became a teacher? 

KC: I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. My mom was a teacher, but if I wasn’t going to go into teaching, I wanted to be an ESPN sideline reporter covering football, basketball [and] baseball games. That would have been my dream job, but I just didn’t. I didn’t know where to begin to become that. 

MVN: What is your favorite thing about Mill Valley or what are you most excited about at Mill Valley? 

KC: My favorite thing is there’s a lot of kids that care about the school, they’re involved and overall it’s a good place to be. There’s not a lot of crazy things happening. I think from teaching in another high school, this place is special because of that. I’m most excited about being in the same building as my volleyball players because traveling between schools for practice and just running around is not fun. So I’m excited to be here full-time.

MVN: Tell me about an item in your office or at your desk that is important to you. 

KC: There is a picture of my grandma in a Mill Valley volleyball shirt. She’s no longer alive but she always told me it’s going to be okay, don’t get worked up over the little things. I’ve had to remember that when it comes to teaching because you always want to get worked up if things aren’t going well, but she was always so calm, so level-headed, so I’m going to remember to be like her.

MVN: What else should students know about you? 

KC: I am super, super competitive and I am an avid sports lover, any sport. I love talking about sports with people.

MVN: What was your previous job? 

Caroline Gambill: Before this, I taught in Shawnee Mission [School District] for a couple years, and before that, I was a student. 

MVN: Tell me about your background. Where did you grow up? What did you do for college?

CG: I grew up, actually, right here. I went to De Soto schools growing up. I graduated from[Mill Valley] in 2018, and then I went to Kansas State for my undergrad, and I got my degree in secondary education and Biological Sciences. I’m also currently working on my Master’s through Clemson University in South Carolina, working on my Master’s in biological sciences as well. 

MVN:  What hobbies do you do? What do you do in your free time? 

CG: In my free time, I really love to cook and bake. I got really into bakery science during the pandemic, so I was very interested in how different ingredients affected the outcome, so I experimented a bit in my kitchen, and got into that. I really love to cook and bake. I worked as a barista for several years when I was in college, so I’m big into trying new coffee shops and making coffee at home. I’m really nerdy about the science of coffee and how different things will impact the taste of it. Outside of that, I really like to just be outside. I got really into disc golf this summer, so that’s been my current fixation. But I kind of go through hobby phases, so I like to do crafting, and generally I love to go to concerts. A lot of my time is spent there. Any live music, I’ll be there. 

MVN: What made you come to Mill Valley? 

CG: The job opening was kind of late in the year, last year, so I wasn’t expecting to switch jobs necessarily, but when I saw the opening, I wanted to come home. I just really had a great time when I was a student here and I really love the community. I was in a really big district, in a really big school, so this school is a little bit smaller. I think it’s kind of the perfect size school to get to know people[and] you have all those opportunities available.

MVN: How long have you been teaching?

CG: This is my third year teaching. 

MVN: Why did you become a teacher? 

CG: So I kind of always knew in the back of my mind that I wanted to be a teacher for a while. My first year of college, I thought I wanted to go into the medical field. I love science a lot, but I took cadaver lab my sophomore year of college, which was really, really cool. But I kind of realized there that I am not emotionally capable of separating the person from being a patient, if that makes sense. I really struggled with the emotional side of being a doctor, having to do those really tough things and have tough conversations, and it’s really life or death, and that is something that I know I couldn’t sustain doing. I love that teaching is so personal,I can really get to know my students and I love to be able to talk about science all day, that’s really the best thing. 

MVN: What did you want to do before you became a teacher? 

CG:  I kind of covered that, but, I thought about the medical field, decided not to. I still have a million dream jobs that I would love to do. I could see myself after teaching a while, maybe working in a museum, like that kind of setting, anything that combines science with communication and relationship building. 

MVN: What are you most excited about for the school year in general?

CG: I’m really excited for Homecoming Week. I think the spirit weeks are really, really fun here. I love how much people really get into it. That’s so exciting. This is the same for every school year but I love to see my freshman students from the first day of school to the last. They just grow so much obviously, physically, and emotionally, I feel like they become so much more mature, and they are super confident by the end of the year. That’s a really cool thing to see every year. 

MVN: Why did you choose her for your photo? 

CG: So I got this stuffed animal doll thing. I got it at the American Museum of Natural History in New York a couple summers ago, and I was just there in the gift shop, and she reminded me of me, so I got it. I think it’s cool. She’s a little paleontologist, but she looks like me. So I thought she was fun to put in the classroom. 

MVN: What else should students know about you?

CG: I really want my students to just know that I’m like a resource for them. I’m willing to talk about anything. I’ll be there for them about anything. It’s really important to me that I have those kinds of relationships with my students so that they feel like they can trust me.

Mill Valley News: What was your previous job?

Kurt Golubski: This is my first real full time job because I just graduated college.

MVN: What jobs did you do in high school?

KG: I was a field maintenance person for local baseball fields and softball fields. And then [in] college, I coached a couple of baseball teams in the summers.

MVN: Tell me about your background. Where did you grow up, and where did you go to college? 

KG: I went to Paola High School down south and then I went to college at a junior college, Allen Community College in Iola, Kansas, to play baseball and I went to McPherson College. 

MVN: What are your hobbies and what do you do in your free time? 

KG: [My] hobbies would be probably anything sports related. I play some video games, but mainly just being involved in some kind of sports. I like to watch a lot of sports. And then [in my] free time, [I like] spending time with my girlfriend and friends and family for sure.

MVN: What sports do you like to watch?

KG: Football is probably my favorite and then basketball and then baseball. 

MVN: What made you come to Mill Valley?

KG: [A] family friend told me Mill Valley was a good school, so I was able to start student teaching here. Then once I started student teaching here, I knew I wanted to get in the building somehow. I was able to do that in the following year.

MVN: What teachers did you student teach for?

KG: Mr. Wieland for sophomore world history. I did that for the first half of the fall semester last year, and then I was with Mr. Strickland for the back half of the first semester.

MVN: How long have you been student teaching?

KG: This is my first full year. I student taught for just the whole first semester.

MVN: Why did you become a teacher?

KG: I did it for the students, then [another] part for me was when I would see other teachers. When I was growing up, I realized how much fun they had in the classroom and how much they enjoyed their job. I was always one of those people that wanted to enjoy [what] I did for my life. Then the more and more I looked into it, I kind of fell in love with it, and I knew.

MVN: What is your favorite thing or what are you most excited about for Mill Valley?

KG: I think what I’ve caught on so far from Mill Valley is the sense of community that [it] has. So I’m really excited to be involved in it, and get to enjoy that aspect of the community.

MVN: Are there any upcoming events that you’re excited for?

KG: Homecoming for sure. I remember last year when I was student teaching, I heard about blue bomb, but then when I walked in that morning, I remember [that] I thought it was very, very cool and I stopped to watch it. So I’m excited for that this year too. 

MVN: Tell me about an item in your office or at your desk that is important to you. 

KG: I would say this picture. It’s of my girlfriend and I. We’ve been dating for six years, so we’ll get engaged probably sometime in the spring. 

MVN: Why do you keep it here?

KG: [I keep it here] just so I get to see it. Also, I think it’s good for students to know a little bit about my personal life. I think that develops relationships a little bit easier.

MVN: What else should students know about you?

KG: They should know that I’m very approachable. They can come to me for really anything at all, if they just want to talk about their sports or talk about anything that’s going on, I just enjoy getting to know any and all students.

Mill Valley News: Before working here what was your previous job?

Katie Hess: I was the school social worker at Lansing High School for 12 years. 

MVN: Tell me a little bit about your background. Where’d you grow up? Where’d you go to college? What major did you get?

KH: I am a Kansas City born and raised resident. I graduated from St Thomas Aquinas and then I went to Kansas State, where I got a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Then I went to Washburn, which is where I got my master’s in social work. Which is what allows me to be the school social worker.

MVN: What are your hobbies? What do you like to do in your free time? 

KH: I am a huge outdoor enthusiast. I have recently taken up trying to learn primitive living skills, like learning to make a fire with sticks. Although right now I’m working on the flint and steel. I want to learn how to build primitive shelters. It’s a new passion of mine. 

MVN: Why do you want to learn that? Is there a specific reason? If you get caught in the woods, do you want to be prepared?

KH: Well that, but I also am just really fascinated with human beings. Clearly, that’s my profession. Also how did we survive before all of this modern technology? Ultimately that fire making skill is the highest one because I’m a former Girl Scout. I know how to do fire, but I don’t know how to make them primitively. I make them [with] a little fire starter and a lighter. I want to learn with the flint and steel. Anything outdoors, because I like hiking and camping.

MVN: What made you come to Mill Valley? 

KH: I was a school social worker at Lansing for 12 years. In the back of my mind, I always wanted to be a stay at home mom. I thought I got to a point where financially we could do that. I was a stay at home mom for six years and realized I liked being a school social worker and that’s what made me come to Mill Valley when I saw the position open. 

MVN:  You worked at Lansing, then you became the stay at home mom. How did you know you wanted to make that switch? 

KH: My youngest went to kindergarten but when I stopped [working], my oldest was four and my youngest at that time was almost two so they were very young. I had thought, stay at home mom That’s it, That’s my jam. I won’t ever want to do anything else like most of us. And I got into it and just realized that it’s very hard, surprisingly, but also I love mental health and I really missed that part of it and I missed just being in the schools. I helped volunteer at my kids PTA, and that helped me realize I wanted [to be involved] even more in the schools. I don’t just want to be in the PTA.

MVN: Do you just want to be in the schools? Or do you specifically [have a drive] to help children? Or is it just something about working in schools?

KH: No, I love working with high school students. I like your guys’s age because you guys are right at that cusp of being able to take everything you learn to be an adult. I just love teaching people about mental health and I like teaching high schoolers about mental health. As a school social worker versus a social worker out in the community, I get to do more than just one on one with kids. I get to do, you’ll see at some point, classroom lessons and just other things. I like that part of it too. 

MVN: Why did you want to become a social worker? 

KH: I personally had struggles in my younger age, and my school did not have any sort of mental health component to it. To be able to help people with their mental health, teach people, but also remove that stigma so that people aren’t like, “Oh, something’s wrong with me. I need to go to therapy.” and more like, “Hey, I just want some help with something.” I think therapy’s great, we all should be in it, but that’s also what a social worker probably should say.

MVN:What did you want to be before you became a teacher? 

KH: Well, I went to K-State originally to be a large animal veterinarian. I wanted to be that because I loved animals, I loved working with animals. I interned at vet clinics, and then I changed my major, even before psychology, to secondary education mathematics, which should have given me some insight that I wanted to be in the schools,  but then I found psychology. 

MVN: What is your favorite thing, or what are you most excited about at MV? 

KH: most exciting thing is just to be back at work and just to be back here interacting with kids. I’m really interested to see how Miss G had her way of doing it. She’s not me, but how it becomes more like I’m doing what she did, but at some point I’m gonna do a little more of both, probably.

MVN: Tell me about an item in your office or at your desk that is important to you. This could be like personally, or maybe for students?

KH: What I need to get is more family photos.

This is my youngest, but I have three kids, so I look like I’m playing favorites right now. I just found that one easy and could grab it. That would be the most personal thing that I like. Once I get my family pictures up here too, to look at them. 

MVN: What does the [picture] represent?

KH: It represents my family. 

MVN: Why do you keep it here?

KH: That’s a great question. I guess probably just because sometimes you miss your family while you’re at work [and] you probably miss your family while you’re at school. It is definitely also a grounding thing because sometimes you can get really caught up in other people’s problems and [the picture] is a way to ground and recenter myself and [say], I can only solve so much. 

MVN: What is something that you want the students to know about you? 

KH: That I don’t bite, and that you’re not in trouble when you come here. Also that I’m willing to talk about anything. There’s nothing that’s going to surprise me and hopefully, with time, you guys will see how I’m trying to remove that mental health stigma, so we all can just talk about our own mental health. 

MVN: Do you think that in different groups of people, it is harder to talk about mental health?

KH: 100%. There’s just different dynamics still, whether it’s culturally, religiously or just in your family, where people still view mental health as that crazy person or you shouldn’t act that way, versus recognizing we all have feelings, thoughts and being more kind in that regard. I see society shifting, but it’s just not as fast.

Mill Valley News: What is your job in Mill Valley, and describe some of your duties and responsibilities?

Angie Irwin am a special education resource teacher, so that means I manage a caseload of students that have been identified with specific learning needs that might be reading, math, executive functioning and so those learning needs are things that we work on in strategic learning and or seminar to help the students access the general education curriculum.There’s been a deficit identified somewhere in their learning or their executive functioning, and we’re trying to accommodate their learning needs and their executive functioning needs so that they’re successful in the general education classroom. 

MVN: Tell me about your background. Where’d you grow up, and where’d you go to college? 

AI: I grew up in Merriam, Kansas, and then I went to I got my bachelor’s degree from Emporia State, and then last year, I graduated from Pittsburgh State University, and I got my master’s degree. I was in grad school while I was working and teaching full time, and my bachelor, my bachelor’s degree is in psychology. My master’s degree is in special education.

MVN: What are some of your hobbies and what do you do outside of school?

AI: Hobbies would include kayaking. We just started that this summer, which is actually fun, just for fun, not for sport.[Also] reading, watching movies, trying out new restaurants, spending time with family and friends. 

MVN: What made you come to Mill Valley? 

AI: That’s a good question. I was just excited about a new opportunity. I had a couple of friends that graduated from this district and I was just familiar with how the district functions, but also just a new opportunity in my career too. I’d done life skills teaching before, and resources are very different from that. I just wanted to grow my career with a change in my position and my role, too. 

MVN: How long have you been at Mill Valley? 

AI: This is just my first year at Mill Valley. I did three years at Gardner Edgerton High School. I taught three years of current, urgent high school, I should say, life skills, autism skills. This is very different, but very rewarding. 

MVN: So what makes your job important to how Mill Valley functions? 

AI: I think the most important thing I can do in a day is just building relationships with the students. From that we build trust, and it’s great to see the kids in the hallway and be involved in their lives and their sports and see them at work. Building those connections, not only with the students, but just my [special education] team and all the people I get to work with every day too.

MVN: What is your favorite thing about your newfound job so far?

AI: It would be the little relationships with the students. I’m part of a [special education] team that’s new, and getting to be challenged by the people that I work with to help me grow so that I’m a better teacher has been really exciting for me. 

MVN: Tell me about your favorite thing about Mill Valley.

AI: My favorite thing about Mill Valley that I can tell already in the short time I’ve been here, it’s just the community. There’s just such a sense of community here, the way the teachers support the students, the way the students are involved and getting to see that in the hallways and the classrooms that I go into, and it’s just a pretty amazing thing. 

MVN: Tell me about an item on your desk that’s important to you. 

AI: My to do list, probably. My to do list is probably my driving force every day in my sticky notes.

MVN: What else should your students know about you?

AI: They should know that I will always care about them. I will always advocate for them. I’m always on their side. I will always support them and have their backs. 

MVN: What is the difference between your job, or something like a Para?

AI: The difference between my job is I’m responsible for not only getting the data and writing the IEPs before making sure that they are implemented as well. Where a para, they implement what’s on the IEP. 

MVN: What is an IEP? 

AI: An IEP is an individualized education plan.That just identifies the students strengths and their area of needs, academically or functionally. Then we collect data to support the area of growth that has been identified and how we can accommodate it. 

Mill Valley News: What was your previous job? 

Nathan Provost: I was a teacher in Leavenworth,  it actually was Richard Warren Middle School. I taught social studies there, and then before that, I was at Crossroads Preparatory Academy for two years as well, and I taught social studies there as well. 

MVN: Where did you grow up?

NP: I was born in Iowa, but I grew up in Kansas City. I actually went to Blue Valley High School down south. I got my doctorate at Liberty. 

MVN: Why are you banned from Turkey? 

NP:  I committed two unforgivable sins of the first one being I criticized the founder in an article. They have this guy there, Atatürk, and they look at him as almost a God like figure. If you look at his burial place, it’s a temple, but you can’t criticize him. I don’t remember exactly like, how long you’ll spend in prison if you criticize him there, but a considerable amount of time. The other thing that I brought up is another unforgivable, sin, which is the Arminian genocide, which is, they don’t recognize it as an Arminian genocide. It’s not uncommon to come across someone who might say, you know, the Arminian genocide didn’t happen, but if it did, they probably deserved it. It kind of goes to show their feelings about that. They’re just very, very strict in that instance. Now my teacher, she was dedicated to the fact that ,like the first time I met her, she called herself a feminist communist.  She was dedicated to the Kurdish cause, and I don’t know what happened to her. She ended up being thrown in prison and all this other stuff. 

MVN: What do you look forward to in your career?

NP: It was my goal to get into a high school, at least get my foot in the door.  Really my dream is to eventually teach dual credit, whether it’s for American history or world history.Thats what I’m trying to get to because I know that the college market is completely saturated. I always remember, when I was in high school, Mill Valley would always hold these cross country meets and whatnot, so I at least knew of the school. I knew it was really good, and I was like, you know, why not? 

MVN: So this being your first year here, how many years have you been teaching?

NP: This is my fifth year. I was at Richard Warren for two years. I was two years at Crossroads Prep, and then I was,, a half year at Patton Junior High School. I mean, every day when I went in there, they had to search my car and I had to have a special military ID to go inside. 

MVN: Why did you want to become a teacher? 

NP: I initially wanted to become a college professor. However, plans change, and I also learned that it’s a total rat race at universities. I had a really good experience in high school, and I remember my teachers really well. I just kind of knew like that’s probably where I need to be. 

MVN:  Being that this is your first year here, what is your favorite thing so far, and what are you most excited about in the upcoming year? 

NP:My favorite thing is, probably the student body. I mean, you guys, in general, the amount of respect you guys show on a day to day basis, I’m very impressed by, because working up in Leavenworth, there just really wasn’t that. That’s been a very nice breath of fresh air. In terms of things I’m looking forward to,  I’m just excited to see the events that go on, because I’m sure that they are interesting

MVN:  tell me about an item, or a poster in here that’s of important significance to you. 

NP: That one has a good story behind it. The one that says vote, that’s a poster of Napoleon. I actually picked that up when I was in Paris, the funny thing about that is, they were selling it in the gift shop where Napoleon’s tomb is. I looked at this, and I was like, this mimics Barack Obama’s campaign poster that says hope on it, so I went up to the guy working like the cashier, and I said, “Is this supposed to mimic Barack Obama?” He’s like, “yes, it’s supposed to mimic him.”[Then]I’m like, but it says vote, and he goes, “yes,” and I said, on his, it said hope. He just looks so crestfallen [and] he goes, “Does it really?” He looked it up [and]they messed that up, that actually is supposed to say, hope not vote, because they thought that’s what it said on Barack Obamas.

MVN: What else do you think students that don’t know you should know about you? 

NP: I am very, very, very passionate about history, very passionate. The main thing that I write about is the American Civil War. That’s the main thing I focus on, and write about. 

Mill Valley News: Which classes will you be teaching at Mill Valley this year?

Laura VanLeeuwen: I am teaching all of the choirs.I teach jag singers, Chorale, grace notes, bass choir and then two piano classes as well. Piano I and Piano II

MVN: What do you hope to receive from Mill Valley?

LV: A good community. I’ve already been really impressed with the community, I’m just really excited to teach life and teach life through music Educate through music. It’s going to be a great year, It’s already gotten off to a great start. 

MVN: Did you always know you wanted to become a teacher? 

LV: You know what I thought for a while? I would be a performer. Then I had an opportunity to be a teacher assistant for a conducting class and I fell in love. So I thought, I think I want to teach. That’s how it all got started. 

LV: I think students that have music education or performing arts in their schedule, have a really well rounded experience in high school. I think these performing arts classes teach lessons that not all classes do, and I think that’s a really neat thing for every student to experience if they can.

MVN: How do you think doing something in the performing arts will help students in their future, what lessons can they learn? 

LV: For example, in choir we all work in teams. It’s one of those things, unlike an individual core subject, where maybe someone writes an essay, and that’s just that one person doing that. In choir, everything is based on a team’s commitment and a team’s ability to work together. Choir teaches life skills of working together that students can carry over into their work post high school if they have the opportunity to learn. Sometimes it’s hard, being a member of a team Sometimes, you have to put in your fair share, maybe on a day when you don’t even feel like it, but just that, the grit of it and the perseverance. 

MVN: What is a quote that you hope your students live by? 

LV: There’s so many, but one that always rings with me is, “If it’s your best, it’s enough.” If you come in every day and you give your best, and it’s going to vary from day to day, but only an individual knows if they’re giving their best and if it is fully their best, it’s enough. I think there’s all of the ups and downs that come with high school and growing up, but I think having a strong work ethic and giving your best is always going to push someone out in front. 

MVN: What is the quote that you live by? 

LV:  Probably the one that I have right outside on my door here that says, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I always try to incorporate that through my teaching and just for my own life. I have to show that change to my students. I have to be energetic. I think we have a choice every day to be better or bitter. Always taking the high road. 

MVN: What are your interests outside of teaching?

LV: I love to run, I’m a runner, I love to crochet and I love to cook. When I have time to do all those things, I definitely do those things. 

MVN: Could you tell me about your background, like where you grew up?

LV: I grew up in Overland Park. I went to Shawnee Mission South High School when I was growing up, then I went to Wichita State for my undergraduate degrees and I went to UMKC for my master’s. I didn’t go too far, but Wichita State was a nice distance away from home. Not too far, I could always drive home, but not too close. I was able to get a different culture and perspective.

MVN: Is there an item in your room that holds special importance to you? 

LV: Back in 2004, my boys nicknamed me coach V because I teach choir kind of like a sport. Work hard, play hard. One of my students gave me that up there that says: Teacher by Trade, Coach by calling. I just think that’s really cool because not everybody gets to work in a job that they feel they were called to do. I feel like I have found my purpose and I’m fortunate in that. I’ve had some students, family members and people in my life that maybe don’t find that right away, or they work to make money and make ends meet. They don’t have that ability, that passion. 

Mill Valley News: What was your previous job before becoming assistant principal at Mill Valley?

Heath Wilson: I was the assistant principal at Topeka West High School. 

MVN: Can you tell me a little bit about your background, where you grew up, where you went to college? 

HW: Originally, I grew up in a small town about 30 minutes outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma called Wagner, Oklahoma. I was raised there until I graduated from Wagner High School, and I originally got to Kansas through Pittsburg State University. That’s where I went to get my bachelor’s degree and I played football there. That’s how I knew that Pittsburg State existed in the first place because they recruited me for football. I went there for four years and then I kept going up north every couple of years because I met my wife at Pittsburg State and she’s from Olathe. We settled in Olathe after we graduated from college. Then, I taught in Olathe and left to get my first assistant principal job at Topeka West. Now I’m here.

MVN: Speaking on that, What made you come to Mill Valley?

HW: I have lived in the Johnson County area for about six or seven years and Mill Valley has a phenomenal reputation of not only being very successful in sports and activities but also a very highly respected academic institution. That was very intriguing to be able to work with professionals who take the industry of education very seriously. I am very into personal growth, professional growth, and those kinds of things. I felt like Mill Valley was a place to help me grow my craft and also to be able to serve the community that cares so much about the education of its young people. 

MVN: How long have you been teaching? 

HW: So in the field of education, eight years. I taught for five, then left for my first assistant principal job and did that for two and then this is year eight. 

MVN: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

HW: A lot of people have a similar story but whenever I think of a teacher or coach I always have the picture of the two or three individuals that helped shape my life when I was a student. In particular, my head football coach in high school. He was so influential in my life that I always wanted to be that person for students and to be able to impact them and help them reach their goals.  just that experience, knowing how much an educator did for me. I wanted to go into that field to give back, but also be that person for students. 

MVN: What did you want to be before you became a teacher?

HW: Before I became a teacher, I had a lot of things. I think the most recent was a physical therapist. I also thought about being a medical doctor at one point. something in the medical field, I thought for a long time.

MVN:  What are you most excited about at Mill Valley? 

HW: I’m excited to see all the things students are involved in here. So far, I am so pleased with how students get involved in not just sports, but also activities and clubs and all of these kinds of things and all of the things that they’re able to create out of those opportunities. I’m just excited to see student work and all of the involvement and spirit that’s here in Mill Valley. 

MVN: What do you do in your free time?

HW: So free time is just a lot of family time. Me, my wife, the dogs. We are expecting our first child in November. I know a lot of our free time will just be family time in general, but I would say if I have two hobbies, I’m a huge Oklahoma Sooners fan, so any opportunity that I have to go to, particularly away football games, I’d like to do that. Like last year we went to BYU and Provo Utah, and the year before, we did some away games as well. So that’s my way to travel, is to go to some of the way football games with, of course, my family, they come as well.  also just do any sort of hiking and things like that, outdoor activities. We like to go to Arkansas, we like to Colorado, things like that. And getting out in nature and doing some hiking.

MVN: Could you tell me about an item in your office or at your desk that is important to you? What does this item represent, and why do you keep it here?

HW: I’m gonna go with my pictures of my current family, which is my wife and my two dogs there. We’re absolutely obnoxious dog parents. They go everywhere with us, and we spoil them way too much, but those mean a lot to me just because I do everything for them. Obviously, our future child will do the same thing but all my motivation comes from that and just wanting to create a good life for them. That’s why that’s significant for me.

MVN: What else should students know about you?

HW: I think I’m a pretty easygoing person, and my goal is to help and assist students and staff here at Mill Valley and just want to be that person in any way that I can provide some help and support. I want to be that person.