Next year at Dexter High School some staff changes will bring some new faces to the school and also say goodbye to one. From Mill Creek English teacher Jill Fyke, and Math teacher Lisa Burgess will be transferred to the high school and DHS teacher John Heuser will transferred to Mill Creek.
Heuser says while he didn’t expect it, he’s looking forward to teaching at Mill Creek.
“I expected to be teaching at the high school again next year, but because of the different subject areas I can teach, I was transferred to Mill Creek,” he said. “While I really enjoy teaching at DHS and would have loved for it to continue, I do expect my experience at Mill Creek to be exceedingly positive.”
Heuser is excited to teach at Mill Creek for a few reasons.
“I will be teaching in a team at Mill Creek, and I think that the collaboration with other teachers will be a lot of fun,” he said. “I also think that the energy of the middle school students will be contagious; in a good way. I will be teaching English and math for core courses, and will be teaching photojournalism and newspaper for electives.”
While Heuser is excited to teach at Mill Creek, he will miss Dexter High School.
“I’ll miss my great colleagues, a supportive administrative team, and, of course, the students,” he said. “DHS students are a terrific group; they’re curious about life and school, they’re a lot of fun and they really work hard. It will be difficult to say goodbye.”
Teacher Lisa Burgess will be transferred to the high school next year and is very eager to start.
“I am excited, I started my teaching career teaching high schoolers and enjoyed it tremendously, how could I not with the students we have here in Dexter?” she said.
Burgess will most likely be teaching 10th grade math classes at DHS but will also miss Mill Creek.
“After nine years, the staff at Mill Creek is like a family, I will miss them,” she said. “Teaching eighth graders is pretty special, but I get to see many of my students again a bit more grown up, that is something I look forward to.”
English teacher Jill Fyke will also be transferred to the high school next year and has had many mixed emotions.
“I think I’ve experienced just about every emotion there is. I’m sad to leave Mill Creek where I have taught in the same classroom for eleven years,” sje said. “I will miss my colleagues, the kids, my curriculum, and selfishly, my room. That said, the day after I found out I would be involuntarily transferred, I happened to be at the high school for the retirement luncheon. The staff and administration were so kind and welcoming, the sadness seemed to lift a little and I thought, “Okay, I can do this.” The only thing I’m finding difficult at the moment is packing up eleven years of stuff.”
Fyke is excited to teach classes at DHS next year
“I’m scheduled to teach English 9 in the Freshman House, and one section of Psychology,” she said. “I’m excited to be able to move up with a lot of the kids I’ve taught this year, and can’t wait to see what 11th and 12th graders are all about.”
