New Palestine High School welcomes a brand new face to its art department this year: Rachel Long, a highly experienced educator who brings enthusiasm and creativity into the classroom. After years of teaching at the intermediate level, she chose to once again step into the high school level for the first time since 2009, and she hopes the transition will be exciting and rewarding.
With her new addition to our school and student body, Long could be having some difficulty adjusting to her new environment.
“(The hardest thing is) probably learning a whole new set of staff and students that I didn’t have at my old school that I don’t know yet,” Long said. “Getting to know these new personalities of all my new students, all of the interests of the students and trying to make those connections. I want to form a good relationship with them, so they trust me to help them, and lead them in their artistic journey.”
Despite these challenges, Long is choosing to embrace the difficulty to fully build those relationships and her understanding of what helps her students learn best.
A big change for Long is her schedule after many years working around an intermediate schedule. She now must adjust to the demanding schedule of high school students. However, she does not falter, and is excited to begin the year with her new students.
“I am most excited about teaching an all new set of classes at the high school level because I came from the intermediate school and so now I’m teaching high school art classes for the first time since 2009 was the last time I taught high school age students,” Long said. “So I’m excited to teach art one, advanced, drawing, painting, all of those classes.”
Her return into high school art brings with it a renewed sense of creativity and verity to the program.
Despite all the changes at the high school, what stood out to Long the most was the student body. She is impressed with the kindness and maturity that she has observed from the students in her classroom.
“I’ve been telling everyone that you all are so nice, welcoming, and friendly. It’s just been so amazing. I’ve been so impressed with the students at the high school age.Its been more than I can ask for when it comes to student involvement and behavior in my classes,” Long said.
