ADMINISTRATION & SUPPORT STAFF

Volume I Edition III

Explorer The

An Advanced Graphic Design Publication

ADMINISTRATION & SUPPORT STAFF

PRINCIPAL

Granbury High School is an institution of learning and experience, with hundreds of students attending every day. With kids to teach and goals to reach, the school cannot be run by one person alone. A whole group of administrators and staff have banded together to keep this great high school of ours going. At the helm of this giant vessel stands Mr. Jeremy Ross, the principal of GHS.

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Mr. Ross was a teacher for 5 years, and an administrator for 16 years. Over this period of time he has gathered enough experience to lead an entire school to greatness. However, he is still attending school and he has already earned several degrees. Some of them include a Bachelor in Music Education and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. With all of this experience

and learning, Mr. Ross is a fitting man to lead GHS! According to Mr. Ross, his favorite part of being principal is “watching young people grow up from goobery youngsters into young adults ready for the real world”. Although the job has its ups, it also has its downs. “Making everyone happy about an issue is impossible”, says Mr. Ross. “Someone is always mad about something”. Being the principal of a high school is an exciting roller coaster of tasks and you’re always on your toes waiting for your next challenge. Although Mr. Ross has chosen this path, he had other plans instead of becoming an administrator. According to him, Christian Ministry would be his second choice of a career. Not only would he be willing to change his career path, Mr. Ross would also like to see some changes to our school in the future. “I would [like to] expand the size of the cafeteria”, says Mr. Ross. “So that we could have more time in class with only one or two lunch periods”.

error. With an excellent staff and administration, Granbury High School will continue to inspire and educate young adults for generations to come. -- Jason Lambert

ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS

Tammy Clark is an Assistant Principal here at GHS. She is a wonderful, smart, inspiring woman that has done a lot for this school and other people over her few years here. With a Masters in education, Bachelors in Environmental Chemistry, and an administrative certification, she plays an important part here at GHS making sure that every student does what they should do to graduate.

Mrs. Clark actually didn’t plan to be an AP; her first Our school is a great one, plan was to work in enso we need a great group vironmental studies and of people to keep it running smoothly and without impact studies. With years

of studying and a completely different life plan, it’s weird to think that she went from one side to another. Although she isn’t studying environmental studies anymore, she still shows caring and does powerful work here at GHS. Not only juggling the amount of time management and projects she has to do as an AP, she is also an amazing varsity volleyball coach! Crunching time and still doing everything greatly, she runs an almost undefeated volleyball team every year, showing another way how she inspires students and motivates them to push themselves and be the best they can be! With Mrs. Clark’s four years here at GHS, it gets hard to mix that with her personal life and hobbies, which include, reading, hiking, and spending time with her husband and two adult kids. However, with all of the time she gets she loves to spend time with her family.

them to graduate! Tammy Clark is for sure a motivating spirit. She says “Whatever you are doing, if you are dedicating this moment to doing it, you might as well do it the best you can.” This is an amazing quote and words by an amazing woman. If you don’t know Mrs. Clark yet, you should take the time to get to know her. -- Nathan Rue

moving to the High School. Mr. Heffernan said he loves working with students and teachers while being an Assistant Principal however, he finds time management quite challenging at times. Mr. Heffernan said he would love to be a youth pastor if he were not working in the education system. Mr. Heffernan mentions he has many skills associated with baseball. His reason for deciding to be an Assistant Principal in Granbury High School was to help guide a school into a positive direction. -- Lauren Eudaley

Jimmy Heffernan is a well known Assistant Principal in Granbury High School. He is also fairly new to this campus, so why not take the time to get to know him? Mr. Heffernan went to University of Texas at Austin for his Bachelor’s degree and Lamar University for his Masters. Mr. Heffernan has been at the Granbury High School campus for only one year now and plans to stay for a while.

Mrs. Hill is an AP here at Granbury High School. She grew up in Ft. Worth, Texas. She graduated from Mrs. Clark loves all of her Ft Worth Southwest High students and it’s hard to school, then got her unshow that she cares when dergrad from Texas Wesa lot of what she does is leyan and her Master’s discipline. Even with all Degree at Tarleton Unithe discipline, she tells the He mentioned working as versity. She taught High students they’re doing a a teacher or coach at many School Social Studies and great job, and motivates different schools before

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one year of fifth grade before becoming an AP however, she always knew she wanted to move up to the position she’s at today. She wanted to move up in the structure of the school because she enjoys working with the students and teachers to make sure the school runs in the most efficient way possible. Not being bound to a classroom is another reason why she likes her job; she gets to move around and help everyone. Mrs. Hill reported that the most important task she has as an AP is communication. Always having an open door policy so that if anyone has an issue she’s there for them to talk, and if they need a favor she’s always willing and able. Something fun about her job she enjoys is interacting with the students. Though her job may be fun, she does have a hard time hearing about students doing things they shouldn’t and not doing things they should. She wants what’s best for every student and because she loves all of them it hurts her to see them make poor decisions.

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I asker her some questions about her job such as what she would do if

she had to work somewhere outside of schools. In no time she responded, “a forensic investigator.” Mrs. Hill also explained that she is a published writer and that she has wrote a few articles for magazines before. If you haven’t gotten enough of her yet there’s still one more very interesting story I learned from her…

TCU in Fort Worth to be a computer science major, he changed degrees and graduated from TCU with a degree in Finance / Real Estate. He then returned to TCU to get his teaching credentials for math and business. After several years of teaching and coaching various subjects, Mr. Hunt decided to go to UT Arlington to get his Masters degree to beWhen she was in college come a principal. Starting she worked for an optom- in the summer of 2010, etrist. Her job was to teach this school year marks his people how to wear conseventh year at GHS aftacts, but one day a young ter working for GISD for girl without arms came in three. When I asked why and Mrs. Hill taught her he chose to become an how to put contacts in us- assistant principal, he stating her feet. So if you see ed, “at a different school Mrs. Hill in the hallways of district, where I taught AlGHS, smile, wave, and ask gebra...the principal there her about the girl who put was very difficult to work contacts in with her feet. for. In my opinion, she ran -- Ben Hyde her school based on what her favorite teachers wanted to do, instead of what was best for students.

Mr. Hunt is one of five assistant principals here at Granbury High School. After going to school at

After several months of disagreements with that principal, I got mad that someone like that got to be in charge (and also made a lot more money than I did).I decided that I could do a better job than that principal, so I began to pursue the extra education I needed to get my certification to become a principal.

As anybody can imagine, being a disciplinary supervisor comes with many hard tasks.” One thing Mr. Hunt says is challenging about his job is time management. “Very rarely do I get to do everything I have planned to do in a day.” says Hunt. But it’s not all negative. Mr. Hunt says, “The thing I like most about my job is the interactions with students I get to have on a daily basis. There are a lot of great kids at GHS that make me smile every day. I also like that everyday is different, because I never know what issue will walk through my door that I have to take care of.” Outside of school, Mr. Hunt has some hidden talents students don’t know about. After growing up in the Florida Keys, he can snorkel and scuba dive. While in the Keys, he learned a lot about marine life. Becoming an expert at catching lobster and grouper, Mr. Hunt will proudly say, “I can filet a fish faster than you would imagine.” One talent he also mentions is he can, “harvest the animal out of a conch shell and turn it into a mean conch chowder.” -- Michael Cote

Mrs. Sanderson is an Assistant Principal here at Granbury High School. Her job is very tedious but fulfilling. She performs tasks such as direct traffic, help guide students during lunches, and help students make the correct choice at GHS. She arrives at school with a smile on her face, ready to take on the day. Some of her tasks are to guide traffic after school, discipline students who do not follow the rules of their class, and help keep everything in the school orderly. Mrs. Sanderson grew up in Fort Worth and got her bachelor’s at Stephen F. Austin University. She has been with GHS for 8 years and worked with other school districts for 20 years. She taught math before becoming an AP. She swore to herself that she wouldn’t be an AP, but one of her coworkers suggested it to her at a new job and she took it. When asked what career

she would have chosen if it wasn’t her current one, she said she would have been a physical therapist. Though Mrs. Sanderson doesn’t do much outside of her work at school, she was very fortunate during her school years to go to many great college athletic events growing up because her dad was an NCAA college referee. The best part of her job for her is the interaction between her and the students because she hopes that with every encounter that happens here at school will make a positive change in the student’s life. The most challenging part about her job her at GHS is trying to help students overcome whatever problems they have and help them value their opportunities and education her at Granbury High. -- JR Stowell

COUNSELORS

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Mr. Barnett, the ever famous counselor of Granbury High, is known for his patience and kindness. He began climbing up the job ladder into the educational system, where he taught Math as a Special Education Teacher. He has worked in many different schools before Granbury High, including McNeil High School in Austin, Texas, and Del Valle Jr. High in Del Valle, Texas before that. He loved to help children and see them grow. “Helping students move forward in their lives academically, socially, and personally. I also feel very blessed to be working and learning from the 5 ladies I work with at GHS.”, He wrote to me over email. I could feel his compassion from the screen.

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ing bill collectors. I was often referred to by my team as the ‘Head-Scum Sucking Bill Collector’. Humor kept us from going nuts.”, he said humorously. The hardest challenge is the paperwork and deadlines, though he can still find the time to help students.

well into College (use your imagination). The internet and technology changed some things for the worst. Society in general goes faster “day to day” than in my day. Drugs creep into more lives and harm families…than they did in my day.” --Courtney McClelen

When asked what he would do outside of his educational career, he said,“Something in the business world, a little less dark than collections. Possibly financial planning or real estate sales.”

Not only is he a star at school, but at home he can cook a mean semi-scratch lasagna and just loves to cook in general. “I don’t remember school being so intense for students 40 years ago. More is required academically speaking, 14 of his 21 years in edufrom students than in my cation has been at Granday.” he replied, ”There bury, five of which were are so many more single in counseling, helping students grow and letting parent homes currently, than in my day. There are them know they always more income challenges have something there for and the stress that goes them. Before coming into the educational system, he with it is different than monitored bill collectors. “ 40 years ago. This can be Before entering the field of more stressful on those in the household for both education I worked in the the parents and students. business world, primarily High school students are in finance on the “Dark Side”. I trained, motivated, exposed to things that I and monitored scum suck- didn’t even consider until

Ms. Karin Harrington is one of the counselors at GHS. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a certification to teach at the secondary level at West Texas A&M University, and her Master of Education degree in Counseling at Tarleton State University. Ms. Harrington has been working at GHS as a counselor for 17 years. However, she wasn’t always a counselor. She taught Freshmen English for one year and Junior English for two years. When she was in high school and college, she worked at Dairy Queen,

Diamond Shamrock, Chevron, and Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. The only place she ever taught at was GHS. “If I had to pick a skill, I would say I’m really good at guessing what my Christmas/birthday gifts are,” she said in a recent interview. “I’m able to guess a gift just by shaking it.” That might not have anything to do with counseling, but that’s still a pretty impressive-and useful-skill to have.

paperwork to do, and they usually spend most of their weekends getting all of it done, which leaves them little downtime.

“One reason I wanted to become a counselor is because I didn’t really like teaching the Freshmen English classes.” she said. “I has always liked listening to other people’s problems and being able to help them. I prefer the act of helping rather than teaching.” If she weren’t One thing she loves about a counselor, she would her job is helping students be a nurse, as she would get ready for college; she still be able to help others loves helping with the with whatever problems applications and other they may have. Counselors requirements needed to are an integral part of any start. One of her favorite school, and Ms. Harrington days of the year is gradua- is definitely no exception. tion day. “Being able to see Her caring nature and will the students walk across to help others helps her to the stage is one of the best achieve not only her goals, feelings to me.” she said. but of the goals of the stuA big challenge for her dents she aids. job is when she has to tell -- Emma Retana students and parents that a senior won’t be graduating. Whether it’s due to failing grades, major tests, or just lack of attendance, it’s always difficult to tell a family that their student won’t be able to graduate that year. Another challenge is having the time to get everything done. The counselors have a lot of

Ms. Holt has been a counselor here at GHS for near-

ly 8 years. In total she has been a counselor for 8 years. She has an Undergraduate Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English with a Texas educator Certificate in secondary English, secondary journalism, secondary English Language Arts, as well as a Masters of Arts in School Counseling. She attended Sam Houston University for her bachelor’s degree and University of Texas of the Permian Basin for her master’s degree. Other than being a counselor, Ms. Holt has taught Freshman, Sophomore, and junior English, 8th grade English Language Arts, 7th grade Texas History, and 8th Grade U.S History. She has a background in teaching at Trinity High School, Mance Park Middle School, All Saints Episcopal School, George H.W Bush Elementary School, and Midland Christian High School. She enjoys getting to see students ,with whom she has worked with, and walk the stage on graduation day. But being a student counselor comes with some challenges such as mountains of paperwork that she has to deal with almost daily.

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If Mrs. Holt were to pick a different profession, she would like to be a park ranger, due to her love of nature. She would also love to own a large barn to be able to rent out for parties and weddings. She enjoys to be outside on her spare time and to travel; she’s in fact hoping to have a trip to Israel this summer. -- Ashley Gray

Mrs. Hurst is one of the counselors in the office and the lead counselor for Granbury High School. We asked Mrs. Hurst what schools she had attended. She kindly provided that she went to Eastland High School in Eastland, Texas and went to two different universities: Texas Tech University to get her Bachelor of Science in Education, and Texas Christian University to get her Master of Education in School Counseling. Mrs. Hurst chose school counsel-

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ing because she saw kids struggling and wanted to impact their lives in a positive way. Mrs. Hurst was a counselor at Weatherford ISD for two years, and of those years she taught in an atrisk program. The At-Risk program is where counselors go and talk to students that have trouble at their homes or have problems with their parents, while in the program the students also have help with their homework. Mrs. Hurst has been a counselor at Granbury High School for 10 years. There are challenges for counselors to overcome when they are at school; the challenge for Mrs. Hurst is seeing students struggle with real life problems, but a redeeming factor is seeing them overcome the hardships and show great resilience.

and must not define who we are.” -- Carlos Martinez

Mrs. Tuggle hadn’t always been a Granbury Pirate; as she had previously been a Mineral Wells Ram and Lipan Indian, the counselor continues to show her deep love of Pirates at Granbury High School. School is no stranger to the intelligent lady, as she went to Texas Tech University for her Bachelor of Science, South Plains College, and then Tarleton for her Masters in Education for School Counseling. We also asked Mrs. Hurst Here’s a little secret for what she would do as a our loyal readers: before career if she didn’t work in becoming a counselor, she education. She responded taught English and Math that she’d either be a hosand then shifted into bepice chaplain or an author coming an Academic & to impact lives for the betBehavior Coach. ter. She also provided us a quote that stuck with her: There is more than meets “ A failure is an event and the eye when it comes to not a person” Mrs. Hurst being a counselor, and said, “ We all hit bumps in Tuggle is prepared for the the road, but it does not

challenge everyday. “Being SUPPORT STAFF a counselor is a very demanding job filled with a wide variety of tasks.”said Tuggle in a recent interview. “However, when I see someone succeed even in the smallest way, it is a great reward.” When asked one thing she really likes about being a counselor, she said that the students she meets who deal with Ms. Bunker is the new such hard traumas, yet still succeed, are what mo- nurse this year. She might be new, but she has altivate her. ready got the job down. She has been a nurse for Obviously, being a counselor isn’t easy, as it’s not almost 19 years howevalways sunshine and rain- er, this would be her first time being a school nurse. bows. “The biggest chalShe worked for a home lenge is how to leave [my health company providing job] at school when I go nursing care to the elderly home.” she said. “These in their homes. kids are on my heart and mind often. It’s hard not to take some of the kids home with me to live.” To conclude, Kelly Tuggle leaves advice. “I understand that times get tough and sometimes things are out of a student’s control – but they can’t give up; things can get better.” If you ever need someone to talk to, go to Ms. Tuggle-she’s here for you. She can always lend a helping hand for students. -- Tia Dobs

Ms. Bunker went to Central Texas College, School of Vocational Nursing in Brady, Texas. From there she got hired by a home health company and now she works here at GHS. She enjoys working and getting to know the students that come through her office (some come through more than others though). In the beginning, she may have been a little nervous about getting something wrong, but the faculty and students were very patient

with her as she learned. Though Ms. Bunker has been a nurse for a long time, she says that if she had to pick another career it would be an Astronomer. She seems to enjoy being our school nurse, working with a new age group and the experiences that come with it-and the pay isn’t too bad either. GHS is our pirate ship, and without Ms. Bunker, the school nurse, we’d be sunk. -- Randy Dennis

Mrs. Chism, the vice principal’s secretary, is one of the many people who keeps the school running smoothly. She helps to keep all of the assistant principals organized, keeps track of all the substitutes going in and out, and assists her fellow co workers in the front office. Ms. Chism went to college at the University of Texas in Arlington, where she received her legal assis-

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tant certification. She then went on to work for various law firms within the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex area. She worked at Granbury High School for many years. She then decided on this job. She came to work at GISD 7 years ago, and just started her job at GHS at the beginning of the school year. Her favorite part about the job is the students themselves. “I love getting to see the kids,” she said in a recent interview. “I also have awesome coworkers.” The part about her job she finds most challenging is time management-she’s always busy with something, as she has many responsibilities. Despite this, she wouldn’t leave this job for the world. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else,” she said. “If I didn’t enjoy what I do, I wouldn’t be doing it.” She has a love for administrative work and working with students, so this job is just right for her. Secretary work isn’t her only talent: she has a great sense of humor and has mastered the art of sarcasm. She loves to joke around with her coworkers in the front office, and their banter is quite the spectacle to witness. Secretaries are usually overlooked in terms

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of importance, despite the fact that they keep everything running smoothly and assist in issues that can’t be handled alone. Ms. Chism is one of these people. She works hard everyday to make sure everything goes right, and even if she doesn’t get much recognition from the student body, her job is still very important to the school. Without her, GHS would definitely not be the same. -- Jay Staats

Mrs. Hughes is one of the receptionists at Granbury High School. She started working at Granbury High School in August of 2016. As a reception one of her favorite parts of her job is working with the student aides that help her and brighten her day. Some of the bigger challenges about the job as a receptionist is dealing with the upset parents or grandparents and doing her best to calm the situation. Her

phone is constantly ringing. Mrs. Hughes started motherhood after marrying early on in life. She has six kids: three boys and three girls. If given the chance, she would enjoy going to the University of Texas in Austin to study Marine Biology. She things it would be fun to study all types of sea life and working in environments on the beaches of Florida. Mrs. Hughes has a hidden talent. She does mixed martial arts, TaeKwonDo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a hobbie. That might come in handy when working in the front office. -- Frank Felz

Mrs. Stacey Whidden has been a counseling secretary for almost two years now. She started her job with GISD at Crossland Ninth Grade Center in the fall of 2015 and moved to the high school in the fall of 2016. She is a mother

of three and has another child on the way. She has two sons and one daughter. Mrs. Whidden went to Cape Coral High School from her freshman year to junior year. She attended Granbury High school for her senior year. She is an alumni of GHS. Before working for our school district, her previous job was in banking for ten years. She left that job because she wanted to steer away from a corporate job. She does not regret her career change and thinks it’s the best decision she could’ve made. This job allows her to spend more time with her family. Mrs. Whidden can’t think of another job more wonderful to have than this one. The thing she loves most about her job is working with the wonderful people at GHS. She enjoys working with students and helping them while they wait for the counselors. Her office can be very busy sometimes with people and phone calls. The main thing she worries about is that everyone is taken care of and no one is overlooked. -- Jose Arellano

OFFICER PATRICK JONES

family is involved with law enforcement. He came to Granbury because he was a victim of family homicide and wants to prevent other kids from having the same experience. He has had many crazy experiences as a cop, and it’s hard to narrow it down to just one. He has worked at Joshua Police Department for 1 year. The police dog gets trained through a company, and has helped Patrick Jones received his a lot for sniffing out narcotics, as dogs have more education at the Regional enhanced senses than Police Academy in Arlington,Texas. Jones has been humans. “The police acadworking at Granbury High emy is so rushed that School since October 2016. things are crammed into your head and you have What he likes most about his job is helping kids. He to constantly study learn says the biggest challenge new things,” he said in a of his job is not letting his recent interview. Before he worked as a police officer, guard down around kids Jones was also in the miland being relaxed around itary and on the S.W.A.T kids at the same time. team. -- Juan Vielma If Jones wasn’t a cop he said he would probably be a chef because he loves to cook. He loves to do leathercraft in his spare time. Jones works with Officer Hastings and Ben(K9 Unit). Their job includes helping stop the distribution of narcotics in Granbury High School, and overall protecting the whole campus. -- Kyler McGee Officer Jones wanted to become a cop because his

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