Haines schools are welcoming 11 new teachers for the new school year, which began last Tuesday.
Introducing you to three more of the new staff members.Words and photos and art by Nakeshia Diop.
Ashley Pillsbury spent 12 days driving from her hometown of Unity, Maine to Haines in the beginning of August. It was an exciting journey where the highlights were the Canadian Rockies and arriving at Haines, where she recently started her new position as the art teacher for all grades. This is Pillsbury’s first time in Southeast Alaska, but she had visited Interior Alaska about six years ago. Her visit is part of the reason why she decided to come back, but she also said she wanted a challenge. “I just wanted an opportunity to have a different experience,” she said. She settled on Haines because her research showed it had a strong arts community that took the arts seriously. She began her teaching career in Maine teaching elementary art for a couple years, then taught middle school art for ten years. “Art education is an opportunity for kids to express themselves and to exercise and establish their identities,” she said.
Stojanka Lynch is no stranger to the Haines community. She grew up in Haines after being adopted from Bulgaria when she was eight years old. Growing up, music was a big part of her life. “I’ve always had music in my life. I took piano lessons, I took mandolin lessons, my brother taught me a little bit of guitar…I did jazz band and regular band in high school,” said Lynch. In 2015, she started teaching piano lessons to local kids and putting on spring performances to showcase their talents. “Music is an opportunity to do a little bit more self-expression and exploration in multiple variety of ways,” said Lynch. This year, she will be teaching music for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Her music classes are only half an hour, so “we’ll have to make sure the routine is smooth and structured,” she said. She plans on having multiple stations in her classroom where students are able to choose from diverse learning activities. She is most looking forward to performances and apprehensive about managing behaviors, “That can be hard, but I’m ready for that challenge,” she said.
Jens Jacobsen is the new assistant principal for the Haines school. Before moving to Haines with his wife, Mindy, who is teaching middle school, and their three kids, Jens was an instructional coach for a district in Minnesota. He also has 16 years of experience as a math teacher, and was a K-12 principal while he was in Indiana, where he lived for 11 years.
“The biggest change is just getting back into administration again, it was pre-COVID when I was an administrator. So really the biggest challenge is just trying to catch up and relearn systems,” said Jacobsen.
His goal for the year is to not break the mold of what already works well in the school system, but to try and find ways to make things as efficient as possible for kids, parents, and teachers alike. His career in education has mostly been in rural school systems. “We love everything about small towns, getting to know everyone, and building connections with families and kids around the community,” said Jens.
He’s hoping that he and his family can settle here and see their kids graduate from Haines high school. “We’re here for the long haul,” he said.