After a year of budget cuts, lay-offs, position adjustments, retirements and changes in general, students enter a brand new school year facing even more changes. As a result of some of the changes, the roster of teachers has undergone a sort of shuffle. The academic departments primarily affected by this switch-up are the Television Production and English departments.

“Mr. (Brian) Town is currently on leave,” Wegenke said. “I cannot comment on the details. It’s a personnel issue.”

The Vision television program and TV media classes are currently directed and taught by Patrick Hepfer.

“I have been brought in for the duration of his leave” Hepfer said. “I was asked to do this a week before school started. I was almost pushed into it.”

Hepfer has begun to initiate some changes in the way the program operates, and the quality of the content produced.

“You can expect a strong overall quality and a wider variety of sports. You might see sports on the Vision you haven’t seen before” he said. “We will be giving a diverse overview of our school, informative entertaining announcements and we will be taking a more journalistic approach”.

In addition to directing the Vision program and teaching TV media and computer technology, Hepfer also works behind the scenes of all auditorium events including plays, musicals, concerts, and other theatrically-related events.

“I run the Performance Arts Center,” Hepfer said. “I’m in charge of every production that goes through.”

Veteran students in the program also believe that things will be significantly different under the new instructor.

“He makes us be our best and pushes us to do our best,” junior Mitchell Kreps said.

Hepfer also directs the Students in Entertainment Technology program. The SET program is a hands-on training program for high school juniors and seniors in Ingham County. Students learn skills with lighting, sound, visual, and design in live settings under Hepfer’s instruction.

In the English department, there have been a few major changes for more subtle reasons than the television production department. Both British Literature teacher Carol Sanford and AP English teacher Dee Schnarr retired last year after long teaching careers. Sanford taught at Haslett for 39 years, and Schnarr for 21 years.

Sanford’s position as the British Literature teacher has been filled by Craig Kueffner. Kueffner taught seventh grade language arts for nine years at the middle school, and has taught English at the high school for the past five years. He also advised the Dixit yearbook program for three years.

“I feel like my professional writing background, graduate degree in educational leadership and five previous years part-time at the high school help me transition into this new position,” Kueffner said.

 British literature is the last English class students take before they enroll in AP English. In order to prepare students for an advanced placement class, Kueffner pushes his own college preparatory agenda.

“Keeping the pace of instruction swift, promoting higher-order thinking, and providing activities, materials, and a course that are at the college-prep level,” Kueffner said of his approach.

Schnarr’s position as the AP English teacher has been filled by Arthur Chiaravalli. Previously, Chiaravalli worked in the math department, teaching introductory math classes including Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II.

“Although I have enjoyed my past four or five years teaching Math, I have always looked forward to making a return to my first love (English),” Chiaravalli said.

The large number of AP English students this year are divided into two separate classrooms. The first hour class consists of 40 students and is held in the Viking Room for optimum space. The sixth hour class consists of 30 students and meets in Chiaravalli’s room. In addition to AP English, Chiaravalli is teaching the English 9 course to the incoming freshman.

AP English is a college level class and can only be taught by a teacher with certain qualifications.

“I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Michigan,” Chiaravalli said. “After that, I earned my State of Michigan teacher’s certificate with a major in language arts and a minor in mathematics. This summer, I completed the AP Summer Institute in Muncie, Ind. qualifying me to teach AP English under the auspices of the College Board. I also have a black belt in Karate.”

Classes, sports, and life go on at Haslett High School despite the shuffle of staff. Although under the constant pressure of budget cuts, this school year may bring many more changes.