Manual hires additional staff for 2021-22 school year
August 11, 2021
In-person school starts back up August 11, 2021 and new faces will be seen among not just students, but staff as well. Additional staff has been hired for the upcoming 2021-22 school year, including two more ECE assistants and a counselor.
Mr. Harsh Upadhyay joins Manual from Seneca High School, with eight years of knowledge to bring to our math department. Mr. Upadhyay was at the forefront of professional development for technology programs regarding mathematical instruction at Seneca. He also served on Seneca’s SBDM board, led the JV and Varsity Quick Recall teams as well as Seneca’s 2020 Aspen Challenge team, where students have just 12 weeks to design a solution to one of several presented global issues. You can watch Seneca’s response to the challenge to “work with immigrants and refugees in your community to help them find pathways toward civic engagement and participation” here.
A new counselor has been hired in light of Mrs. Johnston’s recent resignation. Sophomores, juniors and seniors with last names A-G can look forward to working with Mrs. Christina Brockman, who previously served as one of Waggener High School’s counselors for 11 years. Mrs. Brockman has experience both in and out of the classroom, having taught French and Arts & Humanities in the past.
The July 30, 2020 SBDM meeting highlighted the much needed focus on our Crimson ECE community and addressed three new hires for the previous school year. Two more ECE assistants will be joining for the 2021-22 school year, including Ms. Laura Mucker, a previous employee who is returning. The second ECE assistant, Ms. Catherine Monsen, comes from the Kentucky School for the Deaf to serve our hearing impaired students. She is certified in American Sign Language and is diligently working to become a licensed sign language interpreter.
Students won’t just be seeing new faces in the classroom, but in the front office too. Ms. Glenda Victor has been with JCPS since 2003 and is leaving Shawnee High School to work as a front desk clerk for Manual.
We also welcome Mr. Kevin Callihan (YPAS Band), Mr. Brent Braun (Building Asessment Coordinator), Ms. Brittany Buckner (Spanish), Ms. Kristin Shelor (MAC), Ms. Jessie Newhouse (Science) and Ms. Aileen O’Brien (Science). Their profile pictures are not available at this time, however, readers can look forward to seeing staff personality profiles in the upcoming weeks.
The Manual community and family gives a warm welcome to all ten of newest staff members, as well as a fond farewell to those who are off towards their next step in life. Mrs. Geary announced her retirement this summer towards the end of June. At her time of retirement, she had accumulated 27 years as an educator at duPont Manual High School and was an essential part of our math department. She’s served hundreds of students and is most recently known for her enriching geometry classes.
