Just a few weeks ago we got to know our principal Mr.DeMaio a little more and get his perspective on some of the events going on at HHS. Now we are going to get to know him even more than we did last time and get his hopes and thoughts on this new school year as well as his reason for our new D.E.A.R time.

1. The drop everything and read has been implemented into our schedules with our most recent one being just a few days ago. Was this your own idea? Why was this event implemented into our school year? Why is it once a month rather than every week or even everyday?

It was! It kind of goes back to when I was actually a middle school teacher and an assistant principal in middle school. I also did it at my previous high school. I’m a firm believer and research shows the importance of reading and how reading leads to greater academic success, a greater sense of education and a greater sense of understanding perspectives. So I wanted to bring it back here and begin to slowly introduce it…I didn’t want to overdo it in the beginning so then it becomes something that people begin to resent so that’s why I said let’s start with once a month and then hopefully maybe we can expand that a little bit. I also want to let it grow organically to where people say, “Hey, you know I really like this!” Just take 20 minutes out of our day to decompress.

2. What are you most looking forward to this school year?

I love when we’re outside and you get to see everybody and just getting the opportunity to meet more kids here and getting to know them, but more importantly, watching them interact and having relationships with their peers and being able to see the whole high school experience start to come back… again my goal is to hopefully be able to create that experience where everybody wants to be back here again and and you know dive into working with one another and things of that nature. 

3. Give me one reason why everyone should read The Clarion.

Everyone should read The Clarion because it’s the students’ voice. I think it’s important and it’s a way for students to voice their perspective on things and if you aren’t reading something like The Clarion you’re not getting a sense of what people are thinking about in the building. That’s the forum for students to be able to write articles and talk about things from their perspectives. 

4. Any advice or anything you would like to say to the HHS students?

So especially after this year and a half, I think that it’s important that everybody just be able to understand the fragility of life. It’s precious time that we don’t have and we are quickly reminded how life can be taken away so quickly. We lost loved ones suddenly over these 18 months. So coming back and being able to see your friends and to be able to make new ones to understand that we’re all in this together and there’s so much we have in common with each other. As I have said before: these are some of the best years of your life. My 4 years here were super important to me and the friends I made during these four years are lifelong friends  that I still have now. So just be present in the day, be present at the moment, don’t take it for granted, learn as much as you can and open your mind.