Kirby Joins Administrative Staff

One of the many administrative changes this year includes new assistant principal is Synthia Kirby.

Kirby grew up in Durant, Oklahoma and now lives in Henrietta, Texas.

In college, she got an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Health and Physical Education. She earned her graduate degree in Counseling and Educational Leadership.

“I attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University for my undergraduate,” Kirby said. “I went to Midwestern State University for my graduate.”

Before making the move to Rider, Kirby was a counselor at Old High. A year and a half ago, she decided to complete Educational Leadership.

“So far, the transition [from Old High] has been easy,” Kirby said. “The students, staff, and parents at Rider have been very welcoming. The students, staff, and parents from Old High are proud that I received a promotion.”

She has already made herself a common face in the classrooms and halls of Rider.

“I love being in the classroom seeing students learn,” Kirby said. “Being in the halls is a pro-active measure and it gives me the opportunity to be amongst students.”

Kirby has a young student of her own as well.

“I have a five year old son,” Kirby said. “I also have three stepsons and two granddaughters.”

Open Campus Possible For Rider’s Future

Every day for lunch, kids hurry to their cars so they can fill up on fast food. This year there has been quite the buzz on Rider having an open or closed lunch. Where the rumor started, no one knows, but whether students do or do not leave for lunch, Rider is still a closed campus.

However, that could eventually change.

Principal Judy McDonald and the site based decision team met just before school started, where they discussed having a flexible lunch. The site based decision team is a committee of teachers, parents, and community members who create ideas to help improve the school. McDonald then proposed this idea to the school action plan. The school action plan takes the ideas from the site based team and puts them into action.

Superintendent Dr.George Kazanas said that in no time soon Rider will have open lunch privileges, but that the site based team will observe the lunches to see if there is reason to change. Several things are taken into consideration when deciding to change a school policy, such as how it will affect the students and quality of education.

“In general our campus is closed due to time, along with safety issues and the economic impact on the cafeteria,” Dr. Kazanas said.

Since no official decisions have been made and no rules have been established, the site based team is still considering many options for a movement toward an open lunch one day.

“I want the school to be as innovative as possible with their decision,” Dr. Kazanas said.

Assistant principal Monte Thacker said some of the discussion for a potential open lunch has included rules that could resemble those of advisory period, such as only applying to juniors and seniors who are in good standing.

However, at this point this is all simply discussion. Rider remains a closed campus for now.

“I understand why students leave,” Thacker said.”We just have to enforce the rules.”

‘Braving’ Spanish IV; Vice Principal continues teaching class

New Assistant Principal Peter Braveboy is no stranger to the Rider campus. And even though he’s earned a spot on Rider’s administration staff, students in Spanish IV will continue to see him at the front of their classroom.
“I haven’t lost my passion for classroom teaching,” Braveboy said. “Teaching allows for more connection with the kids in a more positive way.”
For the past four years, Braveboy taught only Spanish classes.
“I have been blessed with exceptional students,” Braveboy said. “I wanted to stay directly connected with a classroom.”
The thing he will miss the most is “the students and the challenge to get non-native speakers to speak Spanish well.”
“Only the grading of so many papers was tiring,” Braveboy said. “But I enjoyed each and every day that I taught.”
Last summer was the first time he had thought of administration, when he started his Principal’s certificate.
“Teaching came with much more ease having done it for so many years,” Braveboy said. “I hope to say the same about administration. I know that those before me enjoyed it and continue to enjoy it, though stressful at times.”
Braveboy hopes the new position has the same pros as teaching.
“Teaching allowed me to have a greater influence on kids and the way they shape their lives for future years,” Braveboy said. “Maybe I’ll discover the same with this new post; it’s too soon to tell. As a teacher, I focused less on having to discipline students, but this is a new challenge I look forward to.”