Meet the new HC teachers
Reporters contributing to this article: Alayna Fryman, Ben Webster, Rowyn Moore, Abby Reichart, Eli Dyer, William Begley, Nina Rennard, and Chuck Logsdon
Michelle Samet
Michelle Samet, originally from Illinois, is new a new HC math teacher. She and her husband moved here after she received her masters last summer.
“Within my teaching experience, I’ve taught two years of summer school,” Samet said. “This is actually my first full year of teaching.”
Now that she’s at HC, she teaches Algebra and Geometry. Something she likes to do is get to know her students and for her students to get to know each other. One way she does this is by having ‘islands’, which consists of two tables placed together.
“It’s something I started a long time ago,” Samet said. “It’s supposed to help encourage group work.”
While Samet is new to HC, she is adjusting well and has made acquaintances with the other teachers. Samet wants to create a comfortable environment for her students and wants them to be able to feel that they can talk to her about anything.
“I’m excited about learning more about my students in particular,” Samet said. “I’m hopeful that by the end of the year I get to know my students a little bit better. That, I would say, is something I’m most excited about.”
Jacob Ryan
“I am excited to be here,” Ryan said. “ I hope to really have an impact on the students.”
Jacob Ryan is the new HC gym teacher. This will be Ryan’s first ever experience teaching. He hopes to have an effect on both the school and the student body.
Ryan has a history in sports. This will help him to fit right in while teaching sports to others.
“I attended the University of Kentucky,” Ryan said. “ I walked on to play football for them so that was pretty cool.”
Ryan was looking for a job to teach this school year and learned from a former HC teacher.
“I know Mr. Blatton from my other job,” Ryan said. “He was a former teacher here at HC and recommended me to apply and thankfully he was right about this place”.
The first few days can be extremely stressful for both staff and students. Ryan experienced this first hand as he had some problems of his own.
“I was a little nervous at first,” Ryan said. “but I relaxed and have performed my job well”.
Outside of school, Ryan is thrill seeker.
“I enjoy amusement parks, particularly fast roller coasters.” Ryan said.
Ryan hopes to have a strong year and hopefully continue to teach in the coming years.
“I want to keep teaching in some form,” Ryan said. “I think this year will live up to my expectations”.
Nicole Silimperi
Nicole Silimperi isn’t unfamiliar to the world of HCHS. Silimperi worked at HC seven years ago and taught at two other schools during those years away. According to her, the return to HC was extremely welcoming and positive.
“It was like coming home,” Silimperi said about her arrival back at HC.
Silimperi teaches both Spanish I and Spanish II classes in room 11 within the portables, with five classes a day. Students are put through competitive vocabulary and learn the specific rules of Spanish throughout Silimperi’s courses.
“When they leave me, they should be able to speak, read, write, and listen at a novice-high level,” Silimperi said.
When she isn’t teaching, Silimperi enjoys a wide range of hobbies. Silimperi said this assortment includes rock climbing and watching rugby matches.
“This year is the Rugby World Cup that’s in two weeks and being held in Japan. UK also has a rugby team that I follow as well as Ireland’s national team,” Silimperi said.
Silimperi has high hopes for her students’ futures after taking her class. She was most excited to her students’ success this year and in the years following. She enjoys when her students understand the curriculum and can carry that with them as they graduate.
“I really like when the kids can move on to the next level and feel comfortable,” Silimperi stated.
Nicole Silimperi seems to have settled in nicely in the time she’s been back in the halls of the Blue Devils. Silimperi is excited for the new school year to kick off.
Bridgette Richmond
Bridgette Richmond is not a stranger to HC. She has previously worked on the HC Site Base Council. Despite her familiarity she still experiences the stress of coming to a new school.
“The first few days was super overwhelming,” Richmond said. “Everybody is super helpful but everything is still very new.”
Richmond although having a small teaching history, started with teaching elementary. She was also an alum to UK graduating in her bachelors for teaching then, getting her masters in special education teaching.
“I went to UK for my undergraduate just to be an elementary teacher. “ she said. “I really liked to work with kids who didn’t get things that easily,“ Richmond said. “That’s when I got my masters, I went back and got it in special education and started teaching special ed two years ago.”
Although teaching takes up a lot of time, she still finds ways to get involved in other hobbies and interests.
“We love to travel, “ she said. “We travel partly five to six times a year. We also love spending time with our kids.”
Richmond has easily been accepted into the HC Blue Devils family and wants to continue seeing new and familiar faces.
“I am excited to see the kids I taught in the fourth grade, I would love to see more of those kids,” Richmond said.
Yassmine Adams
Yassmine Adams, a new Paraeducator at HC, is integrating well into a new environment at HC.
“I love [Henry Clay],” Adams said. “Everybody is very friendly… and it makes me feel like home.”
Despite being introduced to a new place with new students, Adams has already bonded with the students she is supervising.
“Everything that’s needed, we help them [the students] out,” Adams said. “I see them as my own. I’m always excited to see them.”
And Adams is perfect for the task because she already has experience teaching in many different environments.
“I was a substitute,” Adams said. “I was subbing around almost all the schools in Lexington.”
Although she enjoys and works hard during her time at HC, she makes time for some hobbies and interests.
“[My hobbies are going] to the gym with the kids and swimming.”
Adams will be a welcome addition to the HC community of students and staff.
David Collett
Yet another bearded man has joined the staff. David Collett has just joined the HC staff as the new PASS coach. PASS is a positive learning environment for students that sometimes need more attention. Collett also works as Dunbar’s football coach and is hoping to become a coach for the HC softball team.
“My job is to pull kids when they’re having a bad day,” Collett said, “ and try to de-escalate the situation.”
Collett moved here from Richmond where he worked at a different school as a PASS coach. He has been enjoying the new environment HC offers.
“Coming from my old school,” Collett said, “the environment here is outstanding. The administration have been accepting and helpful and inviting from top to bottom.”
Collett moved to Richmond and attended EKU where he received his bachelor’s degree. With family in Lexington, he then decided to move to Lexington afterwards to experience life in a bigger city.
“I always wanted to go where there was something,” Collett said. “I lived in a smaller town, all we had was a Walmart, and it was small.”
This is Collett’s second year teaching and he now considers it more than a job. Along with fishing, playing with his two dogs, and caring for his daughter, teaching has become a big part of his life.
“I love the psychology and counseling involved with teaching,” Collett said. “I love when I see something click with a kid, when I can de-escalate a situation. When I see them go from a frown to a smile, when I can make them laugh, when I can see them calm down, it’s like a roller-coaster for me. It makes me happy.”
Pat Hill
Collett wants this to be his best year and grow to help as many students as he can at HC.
HC is full of exceptional teachers, and one of the newer but familiar faces is Pat Hill, a long term sub for the first semester for Nell Whitman. Hill among others believes that it’s her drive for teaching and growing students that encourages her to do what she does.
“I absolutely love going back over material and planning lessons,” Hill said. “I love the creativity of the classroom.”
Hill has had a strong history of teaching in Fayette County beginning with her dedicated years at Morton Middle School and then transitioning to HC. She was a graduate from UK and is currently in her fourth position as a long term sub.
“I taught English at Morton for my first 16 years,” Hill said. “When the ninth grade moved in 1990, I came [to HC] and stayed until I retired in 2006.”
One thing that sets Hill apart from other teachers is her abundance of interests and hobbies.
“I love to read and go to the theatre,” Hill said. “I am on the board of an actual theatre company. I love to remodel and redesign spaces and landscapes, cook gourmet food, and TRAVEL.”
Hill has successfully been stepping back into the role of everyday high school life and filling in when HC lost a Blue Devil.
“I am vain about my abilities,” Hill said. “What I am doing is so important for these students because I know how important it is to have the same sub.”
Katrina Johnson
Katrina Johnson is one of the many new members of the HC staff. Transferring from a middle school, navigating the new size and population if a highschool has proved quite challenging.
“There are so many more kids here than there where at Southern [Fayette County middle-school],” Johnson said. “It’s crazy how busy it is here, how many more students, how many more teachers, how big it is, and the parking here.”
Johnson is continuing in her career in special education. She previously worked in the special ed room at Southern Middle School.
“I am a one on one [paraeducator] with one student,” Johnson said, “I help her get to her classes, and go get the things that she needs.”
A paraeducator is a teacher who assists students with disabilities. Their duties are to help these students with special needs to get the best education they can with their disability.
As a mother, A lot of Johnson’s lives involves her sons. With 2 kids enrolled in elementary school, the timing of high school is beneficial for her.
“[The timing if high school] is the same as the times my little boys go to school,” Johnson said, “I don’t have to worry about being at school until four or five anymore.”
Johnson is looking forward to the more exciting parts of working at a highschool and to enjoy them with her children.
“I’m looking forward to the football games and sporting events,” Johnson said, “The kids are too, they really like sports.”