Gilroy
– Following a summer full of upgrades and new construction,
Gilroy High School staff is getting settled into campus before
school starts Monday.
A new face is joining the crowd this year, but teachers,
students and parents will get to know her soon enough.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Following a summer full of upgrades and new construction, Gilroy High School staff is getting settled into campus before school starts Monday.
A new face is joining the crowd this year, but teachers, students and parents will get to know her soon enough.
Kat Hannah was hired as GHS assistant principal this summer, to oversee the school’s math, science and special education departments, which are an area of focus for the coming year.
“I’m really excited about it, I’m actually learning a lot,” Hanna said Wednesday, over tests being conducted on the school’s new intercom system. “There are so many people here who are experts at what they do.”
This is the first administrative position for Hanna, formerly a science and special education teacher – for a year in Hawaii and most recently, several years in San Jose’s East Side Union High School District.
GHS Principal Bob Bravo said Hannah, hired in early July, will settle into her new position quickly.
“In particular, what I see in her is that she’s a real quick study,” he said. “She’s very quick, very smart.
“And we like that she comes from a science background because the rest of us in the (administration) team are from humanities.”
Assistant principals Greg Camacho-Light and Mani Corzo round out the administration team. Hannah replaces Joni Madolora, who resigned at the end of last year to be principal of a middle school in Gonzales.
Hannah joins GHS at a time when much emphasis will be placed on improving students’ math scores, which decreased for the third year in a row.
“I know that our test scores aren’t where we want them to be, but we have such great talent and we have great will,” Hannah said. “People are really concerned and want to do well.”
The staff will be working collaboratively, she said, to develop the best practices and focus on intervention to help low-performing students succeed.
A self-professed “science geek,” Hannah said she looks forward to hearing from GHS’ science experts what is working, and again, set up teams to work closely together.
“I’m actually not looking to do a lot of things differently,” Hanna said. “I think we have a lot of really good established practices. Nobody’s perfect, but right now we have a lot of expertise and I want to sort of talk to everyone and hear what people have to say and figure out where we can do better.”
Hannah caught the teaching bug after doing a presentation to a group of high school students for a non-profit group. At the time, she was studying science at the University of British Columbia. There’s a lot about working with high school-age kids that appeals to Hannah.
“They make me laugh every day,” she said. “Because they’re funny, because they’re entertaining, because they want to entertain you. You learn a lot from them and they learn from you and you can see them starting their lives. Because they sparkle, and you can see who they’re becoming.”
Born in Canada, Hannah grew up in Hawaii, where she returned to earn her teaching credential.
“I miss the weather,” Hannah said. “It’s small, so you always see your friends and neighbors. … You do get to know your students very well.”
Before being hired by the district, the human resources department and Bravo “paper screened” Hannah and other potential candidates, and Bravo and a panel of teachers, a parent and an academic coordinator conducted interviews in late June and early July.
