Centennial High Teaching Opportunities

By Heather Nwaerondu, Substitute Representative

“Centennial High School will be posting a number of teaching positions this year.” 

This is how the e-mail started, and it continued with an invitation for all interested teachers to attend an information meeting on Wednesday, March 23.  This summary of the meeting is for those who were unable to attend.

Centennial, located at 55 Sun Valley Blvd. S.E., is a new high school that opened its doors, to grade 10 students, only in the fall of 2004.  In each of the next two years Centennial High will add one grade until they have grades 10, 11 and 12.  At present, there are 550 grade 10 students attending.  The administration is anticipating another 550 students to enter grade 10 this fall.  As a result, there is a need to double their staff.

The school best articulates its goal through its mission statement, ”Preparing students for life and work.”  Each student is to graduate from grade 12 with a plan that will enable the student to explore careers with which they have become familiar.

Diane Field, principal, stated, “Collaborative work is key to our school.”  She said the students believe this and the teachers demonstrate it in their daily interactions.

Addressing about 100 teachers, Ms. Field informed the audience of the availability of the following positions: CALM, Construction Technology, Cosmetology, Dance, Design Studies/Computer Skills, Drama (possibly), English, French/Spanish, Math, Paced Learning Program, Physical Education, Sports Performance, Chemistry, Physics, and Social Studies.  These jobs will be posted intermittently as the administration examines each new teacher’s abilities to determine evolving school needs.

This informative presentation about what the school is and wants culminated with a thorough tour of the school.  It is a bright and welcoming school that will have the ability to educate many students in the years to come.