Caps and Gowns Available Now!

As the first semester is coming to an end, seniors graduating early need to be aware of their duties. These seniors are expected to email Senior Class Sponsors Melissa Higgins and Carol Fullington in order to stay updated on  future dates and events, including the senior trip and practicing for graduation. 

Caps and Gowns

Caps and gowns are available for seniors to order. To do so, visit the senior Classroom page and fill out the order form with height and size. After ordering, $30 will be due to Higgins.

Senior Headshots

Senior headshots are also being taken and should be scheduled. Contact seniors Emma McCrary or Tinsley Moffatt, @mccrarye@paoli.k12.in.us or @moffattt@paoli.k12.in.us. Headshots can be taken before school, during 1st, 4th and 7th period, homeroom and after school. Headshots should be scheduled before winter break if possible. 

Story by Kacey McBride

Calling All Drummers

This year, winter percussion will be starting back up again for the first time since 2013. The directors for this season are Brandon Nunez. Judah Gehl, and Christian Karkosky. The show theme this year is “La Rosa”, and the composers are Dan Bryan and Aaron Hines. Movements include “Red Paintings”, “Reserved Ground” and “Underground Revival”. The first rehearsal will be on Tuesday, November 23 from 6-8:30 p.m. in the band room. Anyone interested in joining can contact Mr. Karkosky.

Back in the Classroom

Buchanan Returns Following Throop Student Teaching

Friday, October 29 was the first official day of eighth grade English teacher Mariah Buchanan’s teaching career at PHS.

While it was her first day as a teacher at Paoli, it is not her first overall. Buchanan graduated from PHS in 2015. From there she attended college at Indiana University Southeast.

In 2019, Buchanan graduated with two degrees after only four years of college. She received her Bachelors in Spanish and English. These degrees allow her to teach both language and literature, as well as to translate.

“I chose to study English and Spanish because they are broad areas of study and didn’t force me to stick to one career path. I was unsure of what I really wanted to do, and these degrees have opened many doors and opportunities for me,” said Buchanan.

One of these career paths was teaching, and as of the beginning of the school year, she was hired. Buchanan was completing her postgraduate program at the time and as a result, was required to
student teach for 10 weeks.

She taught with fourth grade teacher Liana Baker at Throop for this duration. Since Buchanan was occupied with doing so, a substitute was necessary to cover her position until she was finished. Coupled with these responsibilities, Buchanan was tasked with creating lesson plans for her classes, wrestling coach JD Emerick filled in for her.

“[While student teaching,] I learned a lot about the foundations of reading and writing that will help me better understand the needs of middle schoolers in my English class,” said Buchanan.

Buchanan is now licensed in several different areas. She is certified for teaching K-5 Elementary, 6-12 Language Arts and K-12 English as a new language.

Buchanan has had several jobs through the years that have made teaching seem like the perfect fit for her. She has worked as a reference librarian which entailed helping students and anyone else who needed it with their research. In addition, Buchanan was a literacy tutor at Mt. Tabor Elementary School in New Albany during college. She taught many homeschooled students Spanish as well, along with English Sign Language for international online companies.

Buchanan’s desire to help her community led her to choosing this path. Her passion for reading, writing and literacy have made her look forward to this new job as well.

“I’m most excited about sharing my love for reading and writing with others,” said Buchanan.

Now that she is officially in her own classroom, Buchanan has her students working on strong argumentative writing, including text evidence and using citations correctly.

She hopes to provide a foundational curriculum for her students in this first year that they will be able to build off of in the future. As of next year, Buchanan plans to create different units that are more fun for students to learn from and will better engage them in reading and writing.

Story by Masden Embry

Free Clothes Available to Students Through JAG Program

JAG is a program at PHS designed to give students job skills and real world experiences and  make learning more hands-on and meaningful for students involved. The JAG Clothing Closet is one way the students are using their skills but the project also serves as a service learning project. It covers skills such as planning, implementing, following through, and revising as needed.

With the help from donations from students and the community, the closet is where you can get clothes if you are cold, too hot, get dress coded, or even if you just want something. Running home to get a new pair of pants is almost never possible during the school day, the next best option? Grab a piece of clothing out of the closet.

JAG teacher Katie Cook runs a closet and some of the clothes available are located outside her classroom in the north end of the building. The purpose of this project is to help students and encourage them to take what they need. 

“I know sometimes it is intimidating to the student, and I understand that. But they may have an immediate need that can’t wait, and that is fine with us,” said Cook.

For more information on what is available contact Katie Cook  at cookk@paoli.k12.in.us. Students are welcome to stop by and grab free clothes outside the JAG classroom. 

Story by Kacey McBride

Signs Everywhere

A new way of getting information out to staff, students, and parents is coming soon. New LED signs will be popping up around Paoli schools. These signs will be in front of each school, and one located at the intersection of Elm Street and West Main Street.

The school board voted to purchase the signs for a total of $59,823.53 at the June 7 board meeting.

“The signs will share information about what’s going on and promote our schools,” said Superintendent Greg Walker.

These signs will be run by Journalism Teacher Heather Nichols. Nichols will be able to control what will be shown on each sign.

“One is ready to install and the other two are near,” said Walker.

At the October school board meeting, the minutes reported that the signs were ready to install, but the company was waiting to install all three at the same time.

These signs are similar to the signs at Springs Valley, Orleans, and West Washington. The school will be able to share lots of school information on the digital signs.

Story by Jeremiah Hutcheson