If anyone is wondering who the new guy is doing morning duty in front of the bookstore, he’s the other guy who covers ISS. Shane Barrett is on the second rotation of the new ISS policy to change out the monitors to avoid burnout.

Mr. Barrett is originally from Michigan but moved to attended Huntingdon where he attended middle and high school with vice principal Betsy Hudgins.

He went two years to the University of Tennessee-Martin and spent five years in the Marine Corps. He has been married for the last 18 years and has a 17-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter.

He feels his experience as an ISS monitor is much more different than his previous experiences.

He enjoys his job, mostly, because he says, “It has its moments.”

Barrett’s hobbies include drag racing – competing, building and watching – which he does in Gleason. He also just likes to hang out with his kids.  His son enjoys the racing particularly the art of “Drifting”.

His favorite sport is football and his favorite teams are the University of Michigan and the Dallas Cowboys.

His favorite show is “Ghost Hunters” and his favorite movies include “The Bourne Supremacy” trilogies.

Mr. Barrett has meet Carlos Hathcock, the number-one sniper from the Vietnam War whom he met while receiving special training in the military.

Who is the teacher who likes to take a ride on the wild side?

Why that would be Greg Chandler, the new art teacher.

Mr. Chandler likes to ride and customize motorcycles. He considers himself a “Gear Head” since he likes to ride motorcycles and to draw cars that were made in the thirties and forties.

His father first taught him how to draw when he was very young and that is how he got started in drawing cars. Nevertheless, his father said he was always a natural at drawing.

He is married and has three kids with one grandchild. He took a trip down to New Orleans before Katrina happened. He loved the nightlife and the parties down there.

He and his wife tried to find good casein food, but they didn’t have such luck in finding one. They did however enjoy pastries down there, which were delicious by the way.

He is enjoying his first year here at HCHS and it looking forward to teaching students here who want to learn art.

He may work two jobs but there is not much change in his job description from day to day.  Robert Kirkpatrick serves his congregation at the Kentucky Lake Road Church of Christ during out-of-school hours and then ministers to the needs of his math students during school hours.   

          Originally from Louisiana, Mr. Kirkpatrick attended Haynesville High school in Homer, where he played football. He then went on to pursue his undergraduate degree in mathematics at Southern Arkansas University. After receiving his bachelor of science degree, he went on to Louisiana Tech University to receive his masters of education degree.

Along with preaching and teaching, he is a husband and father to his wife Peggy, and his children, LeAnna and Joshua. He and his wife have been married for 15 years and are expecting to adopt a two-year-old girl, Kaitlyn, soon.

During his off time,  he enjoys fishing for trout and catfish. He also enjoys duck and squirrel hunting.

Kirkpatrick also enjoys sports.

“I can hit a baseball or softball-pretty far,” Kirkpatrick said. He enjoys playing basketball everyday the weather permits.

His favorite sports teams are the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Cubs.

Kirkpatrick listens to a variety of music genres such as 70’s and 80’s, country, pop and classical music. He enjoys inspirational movies such as “Iron Will,” “Stand and Deliver” and “Rudy.”

Kirkpatrick loves the school atmosphere and believes the campus is beautiful.

His personal goal is to make a positive difference in students’ lives.

“I like the challenge of helping students learn.”

Kirkpatrick said he is a simple man who wants to live right and to encourage others by his good deeds and living right.  He also took the time to share a few mottos with the student body.

“Learn to take positive constructive criticism.”

“Always strive to improve or to learn more.”

“Do what is right today, so that you will never regret your tomorrows.”

“Pick your battles. Some battles are not worth fighting.”

 Señor Patrick Hopp is a man of many languages. Sr. Hopp, new Spanish teacher at Henry County High School (HCHS), is fluent in English, Spanish, and German. Hopp also briefly studied French and Portuguese. Hopp has had many opportunities to learn these languages. He attended Murray State University and has a double major in Spanish and German. Besides living in Uruguay for over one year, Hopp has visited Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Spain, and France. Hopp has also studied abroad in Munich, Germany.

Hopp originally went to school with a degree in the wildlife in mind. Because of this topic of interest, he was an intern at a fish hatchery in Georgia. However, because Hopp likes working with kids, he realized that teaching was his calling. Hopp then went back to school and got his teaching certification. While in school, Hopp was a cook and a waiter. Hopp was a student teacher at HCHS for six months, and a student teacher in Franklin for six months.

Hopp was born in Illinois, but has moved many times over the years. He now lives in Stewart County with his wife of four years, Tabitha. In his spare time, Hopp enjoys hunting and fishing. Also, Hopp is a big fan of animals. Hopp raises and sells chickens. Also, he has pigs, turkeys, ducks, geese, cats, and dogs. Sr. Hopp is looking forward to a great year this year.

A new teacher at HCHS, Ms. Nashedra Strong, was a victim of a home invasion at the age of 22 in 2003.  She was paralyzed from the neck down.  For three years she went through therapy and surgeries and in 2006, she finally recovered.

            Ms. Strong is from West Point, Miss. where she attended West Point High School.  She says, “West Point is more diverse than HCHS.”  Growing up as the oldest girl of four boys she says, “It’s nice being the spoiled one!” 

            After high school, she attended Bethel College, where her mother is an Education professor.  Ms. Strong’s first major was mortuary science, but due to injury in her hand, she could no longer work.  She graduated college with a major in History and Secondary Education.

            As a first year teacher at HCHS, she says her favorite part about being an instructor is, “the support from the veteran teachers and administration.”  When asked why she chose teaching she stated, “I just want to make an impact on the students life!”

            Ms. Strong has two daughters at the ages of nine and four.  Her hobbies include reading and traveling.  When asked about her favorite TV show she quickly yelled, “First 48!”  She said, “I can associate to the victims.”

The best way to learn a language is to be surrounded by it.

Well that’s exactly how Elizabeth Bailey learned it –living in Costa Rica for nine months and then Guatemala for eight years as a missionary.

The Spanish teacher who replaced Alexander Mitjans for the second semester of last year now speaks fluent Spanish and Kekchi – a Mayan language commonly spoken there, despite never studying Spanish in high school or at Blue Mountain College in Mississippi. Her plans there were to either be a pediatrician or a teacher.

Mrs. Bailey now lives in McKenzie with her husband and 12-year-old daughter. She also has two sons. One is a senior at Blue Mountain College and the other just graduated and now lives in Memphis as a web developer.  

Everyone in the family can speak Spanish except for her daughter whom she currently is trying to teach.

Mrs. Bailey jokes about talking to her husband in Spanish about the daughter but said “she usually figures it out”.

She met her husband in seminary class after teaching for two years. Her husband proposed to her in New Orleans in front of a Spanish fountain when she was 24 and he was 27. They then moved to Georgia. Sixteen years later they joined the mission field together. She said the craziest thing she has ever done is to have two kids in 18 months.  

In her spare time, Mrs. Bailey likes to travel, attend church activities, and engage in a more recent hobby, “being on Facebook “which she just began over the summer.    

            Falling through the ice on a lake in Wisconsin and wrecking a motorcycle are just some of the life experiences new science teacher John Anderson has had. 

            While ice fishing on the shallow end of the lake, the surface gave way and Mr. Anderson fell up to his waist in the water. 

            Mr. Anderson wrecked his motorcycle into a fence, then into a tree after the throttle stuck while going up his brother’s driveway, but he was not badly hurt. 

Mr. Anderson, who is teaching Biology and Chemistry this semester, said  “The people [at HCHS] are nice, and the students are good.”  

Before HCHS, he taught at North Central High in Wisconsin in the Biology Department for six years.  When asked how HCHS differs from his former classes at North Central, he said that the classes are about the same, just larger.

            Mr. Anderson, who currently lives in Murray with his wife, grew up in the North Central area. His wife’s family lives in the southern part of Illinois so by moving to the Murray area they got closer to her family, and it allowed Anderson to teach here.     Anderson and his wife met while both were working in a greenhouse in Wisconsin, where he worked as a grower and she took on a summer job.

He has also met former President Jimmy Carter during a parade in Elkins, WV when he was a young child.

During Anderson’s stint in the Marine Corps, he lived in Japan for almost two years where he was in Signal Intelligence listening to Russian Naval Communications.     After his main service ended, Anderson remained in the Reserves until his time was up after the Desert Storm era.

In Anderson’s spare time, he enjoys a wide group of hobbies, such as running, fishing and playing the guitar. 

   Even though Anderson is far from his family, who still lives in Wisconsin, he enjoys the warmer weather of the South. 

Not only has new HCHS band director Mark Andrews played at two Presidential Inaugurations, he has also performed in almost every major stadium in the southeastern part of the country. And it all happened before his 25^th birthday.

            Growing up near Decatur, Ala, Mr. Andrews spent much time outside.

            “I love to be outside. If I am not in the band room, I am outside.

            “I love to hike. I could hike for days and days and days.”

            Not only was he involved in band, he played baseball until the end of his freshman year of his school where he made a decision that would affect the rest of his life.

            Upon graduating from high school, he made the decision to go to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and played tuba in the “Pride of the Southland” band.

            While in the band, he played at the inauguration of George W. Bush twice, as well as the Pentagon, and in Carnegie Hall with a select few from the UT band.

            Along with traveling to every UT game, Andrews met some of the most famous faces in collegiate sports.

            “There I was sitting on the stairs and here came the Florida coaches. (Steve) Spurrier sat down right next to me and we just talked. He was very quiet which isn’t what you’d imagine him being.”

            Andrews also met Michigan coaching legend Lloyd Carr, the 2007 #1 draft pick Jamarcus Russell, former University head basketball coach Tubby Smith, and Duke head basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski.

            Since band members shared a dorm with the athletes, Mr. Andrews had several perks in college.

            “Our dorms were just about as close to an illegal dorm as you could get. We had full maid service, made-to-order breakfasts, and room service.”

            While living the “sweet life” in the athletic dorm, Andrews met and played with many UT athletes including his next door neighbor who was UT’s quarterback, Casey Clausen .

            After receiving his degree from UT, he was off to the University of North Alabama to get his teaching degree, where he would reunite with the woman he would soon marry. After being friends in high school, Andrews and his soon-to-be wife Dottie went their separate ways only to meet again at the only school in the nation with a living lion on campus.

            (The lion is the school mascot and at least one has live in an enclosed habitat in the middle of campus since 1974.  There are presently two lion siblings living on campus.)

            After receiving his teaching degree he taught band at Russellville High School in Russellville, Ala.,   before moving to Paris to replace former band director Eric Majors.

            “The greatest feeling you can ever receive is knowing you are wanted. When people walk up to you after the game or in the hallways and say ‘Thank you’ or ‘Good job’ then that lets you know you are appreciated, and that is what I want for these students.

            “I feel like my job is when a band student walks out of this room; they should be a college-ready student.”

Faculty, the dress code, tardy policy, bookstore, and ISS are among the many areas undergoing changes this year at HCHS.

            New staff members this year include Patrick Hopp, Spanish:, Brian  Crawford and Bobby Kirkpatrick, math; Pam Nelson, Economics;  Mark Andrews, band;  John Anderson, science; Josh Grey, Wellness and P.E.; Linda Kuehn and Cathy Herrera, inclusion; Ascenith Luker, LRE; Greg Chandler, art; Nashiedra Strong, social studies; Roddy Atkinson and Shane Barrett, ISS; and Lennies McFerren, hall monitor.

            The dress code, yet altered, still includes the previous policy, with additions.  Now shorts, skirts, and dresses must be 3 inches from the knee, or the width of the faculty name badges.  Also, no tank top shirts will be allowed — shoulders must be completely covered.  More information can be found concerning the dress code on page nine of the student planner.

            Concerning the tardy policy, any student signing into homeroom late or checking into school up to the end of first block will be counted late to school.  This change took place because of the large number of students “skipping” homeroom and checking into their first block classes, according to Brenda Fuller, HCHS’s attendance supervisor.

            ISS has not only gained new faculty but also will be participating in a rotation with the ISS of Grove and Alternative School.  Every 30 days, the teachers will rotate to prevent the ISS staff from experiencing burnout as Grove and the ALS tend to have fewer kids for the instructors to deal with at one time.  Also this rotation will prevent familiarity with the ISS teachers, keeping the relationship more formal..

            The Patriot Place bookstore will no longer be opened during lunch shifts and operated only in homeroom time.

            Students are no longer allowed to gather in the bottom of E before homeroom.  They must stay in the Commons Area or on the patio unless they have permission to be elsewhere.  Quiet time study is available in the Testing Center in the mornings for those who want to study, read or engage in quiet activities.  Tutoring is still available early in the morning and the library is open for those who wish to work on the computers.

Now we see him, now we don’t is how HCHS’s relationship with Roddy Adkisson is slated to be this year.  Mr. Adkisson, who joined the faculty this year as In School Suspension teacher, will be spending part of the year somewhere else.

          As part of a new design for ISS, Mr. Adkisson will swap places with Grove’s ISS monitor Shane Barrett for 30 days.  After 30 more days, the two will switch again.  Once football season is over, Coach Reggie Thompson, who has been moved to the Alternative School for the duration of the season, will become part of the mix.

          According to Principal Lennies McFerren, this decision was made to help keep the ISS teachers from experiencing burnout and to keep students from becoming too familiar with the teachers.

          Mr. Adkisson attended Henry Elementary where he played on the county championship football and basketball teams in 1982 and ’83.  He was also an All-Star in baseball and played on the team that went to state in the summer of ’83.

          Instead of attending HCHS for high school, Mr. Adkisson went to McKenzie where he started and lettered in all three sports while there.

          When he graduated, he went to Lambuth and played defensive tackle and baseball while pursuing a degree in physical education.  He transferred to Bethel eventually and changed his major to business administration.

          In his spare time, Mr. Adkisson enjoys hanging out with his four kids – Courtney, Jared, Whitney and Mia –, listening to rhythm and blues music and grilling, particularly ribs.  He coaches his son whom he also enjoys watching play sports. 

          When he watches television, he chooses comedies such as “Andy Griffith,” “Leave it to Beaver,” “Cosby Show,” and “Meet the Paynes.”  because they give a moral to the story, which one can use in everyday life.

          He lists family and education as the most important things in his life, and works to instill that same notion into his children.

          As far as being the ISS teacher, Mr. Adkisson said he wants to have a positive influence in the students’ lives. He wants to make sure students use time wisely and keep focused while they are under his watch.