This year at Abilene High School, there are new teachers around the building. Although many students have had at least one or two of the new teachers in class, it’s not a surprise that many other students have not met any of the new teachers yet. Let this be your guide to get to know our new teachers here at AHS.  

All the teachers at AHS immediately noticed the difficulty in putting names with faces while the entire school is masked up. For new teachers, it is especially hard to learn names and faces right now. Adjusting to a new school is hard enough without having to adjust to a school with precautions for a pandemic. 

This year we welcome a new head football and head track coach, Coach Nicks also teaches weights and conditioning. While coach Nicks is trying to memorize his students’ names, he is also adjusting to the school and the new rules for COVID, along with all the other teachers. Although this is difficult, he still enjoys getting to know all his students and the administrators. This is the second school that coach Nicks has taught at. He taught for twenty years at Shawnee Heights before coming to Abilene. He and his family like living in the small town. A couple of his favorite books are Bleachers by John Grisham and Energy Bus by Jon Gordon. One thing that is imperative to ask someone while trying to get to know them is their favorite color, so, each teacher’s favorite color will be revealed. Coach Nicks’ favorite color, for example, is blue. 

Mr. Lewis is the new teacher for Advanced Ag Mechanics, Advanced Ag Fabrication, Welding 1, and Welding 2. His favorite color is also blue. Mr. Lewis is looking forward to hopefully returning back to normal this school year and building good relationships with his students. His favorite book is The Shack by Wm. Paul Young. He also claims that the book was much better than the movie. 

On the third floor, Ms. Wendt is teaching Chemistry and Physical Science. She is glad to be in school seeing her students every day. She loves being able to greet her students at the beginning of every class. Ms. Wendt enjoys being outdoors in nature, especially when it comes to hiking, camping, and farming. She also loves to play volleyball and her favorite color is purple. 

Ms. Shimabuku is now teaching in the study skills classroom on the second floor. Although she is not new to the school, she is new to the job. She was a para for ten years at Abilene before her new teaching job this year. She also attended AHS in the past as a student. Ms. Shimabuku is looking forward to being able to support her students in their learning. She teaches World History, American History, and American Government. Ms. Shimabuku has three favorite colors which include red, pink, and purple.  

The high school also has a new Attendance Secretary down in the office, Mrs. Buechman. She loves staying busy in the office and she enjoys the different dynamics to the job. She loves seeing the students she taught in elementary school growing up and maturing. Seeing her son Logan and her daughter Lyndsey in school every day makes coming to work even more enjoyable. Outside of school, Mrs. Buechman is either taking photos and editing them, or she is being a football or wrestling mom and helping out the teams. Her favorite color is purple, a very popular color.  

Ms. Johnston is another new teacher on the third floor. She is the new Spanish teacher. She hopes to help her students get excited about learning the language. Ms. Johnston loves planning fun activities to do with her students in class, especially when they lose track of time because they are having so much fun. She has lots of cacti and succulents that she takes care of and she loves watching Netflix in Spanish. She is a big fan of The Office. Her favorite color is purple as well. 

Ms. Roberts teaches Intro to Ag, Horticulture, and Animal Science. She is having fun working with her students and getting to know them all. She loves spending time with her friends and family. She is also a big K-State fan so obviously her favorite color is none other than purple. 

All the new teachers agree that this year has already been quite the adjustment. It is difficult to build relationships with others when their smiles are not visible. Ms. Johnston says, “I think when we don’t have to wear masks anymore, I’m nervous that I won’t recognize people because you look a lot different without your mask on, so it’s been an adjustment and I think it will be an adjustment again when we don’t have to do all these precautions.” 

 This year has definitely posed some interesting challenges, but as Coach Nicks stated, “I know it’ll get better.”