by Madi Short/Staff Writer

One of the overlooked an perhaps underestimated staff member of GC is the Resource Officer. Officer Josh Mullins is one of Greenfield Central’s main resource officers. He is well liked by staff, students, and the administration alike.

Principal Jason Cary, when asked what he thought Officer Mullins’ greatest quality was, he said, “His personality. He is very easy to talk to, he is very relatable, and he has great relationships with kids. Officer Mullins does a great job of using his common sense and working with us and our kids. He treats them with respect, but they also know he is here to keep us safe.”

Cary also stated, “He takes his job keeping us safe very seriously, but he is very easy to get along with and work with. He is an integral part of our team, and we are happy to have him here every day.”

Photo Caption: Officer Josh Mullins talks to Mrs. Amanda Slattery, front office secretary.

Officer Mullins, who became a police officer in 2009, always wanted to help people out. “I would say that is a really cliché answer, but it was more that when a certain person from the community relies on you it makes you feel good inside. I come to work everyday thinking how can I impact my community and school.”

Mullins, when asked what the best part of his job at GC being a police officer was, stated, “I would say connecting with the students. I think a lot of the time police officers are misunderstood on who or what we are. Yes, we do take people to jail, (sometimes,) but we are human and people just like you. So giving advice to students to help them in situations outside of school  to maybe prevent them from getting into trouble or just helping with general  questions. I also coach basketball here at GC, so being arounds the athletes at another level lets them know I am more than a police officer and not always here trying or looking to get the kids in trouble.”

Officer Mullins’ advice to teenagers wanting to go into his profession is to first, know that being a police officer’s job is not for everyone, and it requires a certain personality. Second, shadow an officer and see what they do, what they deal with, and how they deal with it. Third, realize there it is a good thing to be an officer, but there is some negativity to it, so be prepared for both.  

Mullins wanted to become a basketball player, until a major injury unfortunately ended it. Another occupation other than a police officer that he considered was a veterinarian. However, he didn’t really understand how much time and studying was needed to become one.

Finally, when asked who his hero was, he said his father. “Definitely my dad. He passed away 5 years ago. He set standards for me when I  was a child that I try to instill into my kids to this day. My father always told me that if you want something in life, you have to go take it. He told me nothing is given and have to work your tail off if you want to succeed. My dad showed what it was like to actually be a father and take care of your family, that family comes first no matter what!”

by Lilly Bowman/Staff Writer

Photo Caption: Mr Jonathan Hudson is in the radio station talking into the mic and adjusting sound.

GC broadcasting teacher, Mr. Jonathan Hudson didn’t originally plan on being a teacher. So how/why is he one now? According to Mr. Hudson, “No, I did not originally want to become a teacher because I did not like school at all. They didn’t have Radio/TV. We had a newspaper but I was very censored in what I was able to write because I felt like I was doing real journalism talking about real world issues.”

Mr. Hudson stated of his time at the Christian school he attended, “Within a Christian school they don’t really want you to discuss things that are controversial. So nothing that I ever did really went out. I eventually made my own newspaper and printed it, but I got in trouble for it. So no, I never really wanted to be a teacher because I didn’t feel like I had the school experience. I didn’t have a me or a Mr. Holtzclaw or Mrs. Bernard. Or someone that kinda inspired or expected creativity. Everyone was very ‘by the book’.”

Mr. Hudson then pursued his own dreams. “So you know, I just wanted to work in this industry. I knew that and that’s what I did before becoming a teacher as a video editor and still do to this day. I’m doing freelance projects with a company named Precise take. I’m an assistant director. So I am getting the best of both worlds.”

He knew he wanted to be in the editing industry so when GC had an opening in the Radio/TV department, Mr. Hudson thought to give it a try. According to Mr. Hudson, “I feel very good about where I ended up being at department head and being fortunate enough to be on the leadership team of the school. It’s really really great. There are a lot of older teachers I feel like should be on it but I was asked to be on it to provide a different viewpoint. So I’m really honored to be doing that stuff.” 

Mr. Hudson also said, “I’ve run into some of my former teachers from Heritage Christian just here and there. Because I still live very close to Heritage, so I’ve run into them at restaurants and just that kinda thing. And I don’t have a bad kind of relationship with anyone. But I tell them I am a teacher and they actually think I’m lying or making a joke. They are like ‘what? You’re a teacher? That’s hilarious’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m actually teaching.’ They are like ‘You hated school,’  and yeah I kinda did. But I always said if I ever became a teacher I would be different. I would think differently, I know I don’t come from an educational background, I didn’t study in college to be a teacher, I just teach what I know and sometimes that comes across as I can be very tough. I can be very demanding but I am an authentic person. And I think kids kinda see that, that ‘hey I know he may be on us about certain things but at the same time he’s done it before he does it now to this day’ and I think a lot of kids respect that. And they like the projects and the environment here. So I think I would just say ‘Hey go with the flow, you know everything isn’t always as it appears to be’ 

Hudson continued, “I always wanted to be a video editor and that’s what I did for like four years; that was my full time job was just editing videos. And it gets really boring because you are just by yourself at a computer screen. So I just really wanted to be interacting with people. I think by nature I’m kind of a social person and I just enjoy meeting people and working with people.”

Everybody has a favorite topic they teach. Mr. Hudson stated, “My favorite thing is film making because I love storytelling. And you guys are doing some of that now, with your 15 shots and you know we are gonna watch your projects (Broadcast class) tomorrow. Just seeing how those turn out and how you guys are starting to think about angles. But ultimately I like telling stories, that’s the thing, I like taking an idea you have in your head and putting it on paper and then being able to tell it visually. I think it is a multi-step process but when you, you know, have your finished project. And I always tell you kids, ‘Save everything you’ve ever done’ because you are going to look back at some of your freshman projects and be like ‘God, that was terrible’  but then when you’re a senior you’ll be able to see how good you’ve become over the years. And so, I think here it’s very easy to quantify ‘Hey, this is where I was and this is where I’m at’ just by literally looking at your earliest projects and looking at some of your work when you are a senior.”

Having a job and a home life can be very difficult to most people, but to Mr. Hudson, he said, “It’s been a little bit tougher since I have had a daughter because you wanna be there for all the moments, you do. And that’s kinda the first thing I do when I get home. I try to do it, I change clothes so I don’t bring germs home and I wash my hands and my face and all that because babies grab everything. I go home and I pick up my daughter and I play with her and tell her I love her. And she is always happy to see me, so it’s like I feel like deep down even though she is a baby, I think she knows that I have to leave for work and I have to go make a living and provide. But then when I come home it’s like ‘Thank you, Dad, for doing what you do’. And that is not gonna last long, when she is your age she’s gonna be like ‘What’s up? Where is my money? Money I need for this and that.’ So I am just trying to enjoy this time while she is just happy to see me. It’s the most basic level of love and affection I feel like you get from a baby.”

 While he is happy at his job and at home, he is not alone on this journey in either place. One of Mr. Hudson’s former senior students, Mr. Max Holtzclaw, is now helping side by side with Mr. Hudson in this class. How does it work with two teachers in one classroom? Mr. Holtzclaw stated, “Mr. Hudson is a blast. I got to experience him as a teacher for my senior year of high school, and now I am working with him. It is a different transition but still fun, he is just the down-to-earth kind of guy. So I enjoy that aspect and he is a good mentor as well.” Mr. Holtzclaw also said, “I didn’t originally train to become a teacher, so a lot of things that I am learning now are things that he has kinda guided me along the way to do. So for example, when I was here we didn’t have the iPads especially so working with those have become a bit more of an experience for me. And so if I have any questions Mr. Hudson is always there to give me some guidance with it. So it’s really nice he is always there working side by side helps both of us too. It kinda splits the workload so we are both able to not be overwhelmed by it too.”

Hudson and Holtzclaw work together very well. Mr. Hudson has stated, “I mean, we have small classes and I think when there’s two of us, I know in the upcoming weeks I’ll be a lot more behind the scenes. I think a lot of that is by design, I don’t wanna get in his way, I don’t want him to feel like he has to teach the way I do, I want him to do things his own way. And that’s what our past teacher, (Mr. Bill McKenna) who was here before Mr. Holtzclaw, and I kinda decided ‘Hey, we think we want him to be the replacement.’ We don’t want him to be another version of what we do so I want him to be his own teacher and do his own thing. So I think to do that I need to step  out of the way.”

Hudson continued, “Now for example, it does help to have two of us  because I know that I can work with any student individually that’s struggling or just you know, helps to have two people look at projects because we look for different things. Given our background, yeah, I think it’s a class where two people are definitely needed, two people are definitely helpful. And with our after school responsibilities, we have so much we have to do that if one person had to try to do all the Nine Star productions and all the WRGF video stuff and all of our legal things we have to do would be a whole lot of work. That’s why we have two of us.”

The first day of school is difficult when you’re a student. But what about being a teacher? What’s the difference between the two? Mr. Hudson discussed his first day of teaching. “(It went) smoothly, I am not going to lie. I was confident that I could be a good teacher going into it. Alot of first year teachers doubt themselves, I feel like. And I feel like a lot of that comes from the stresses of being an education major and you hear these horror stories. I feel like when I started, I didn’t start here, I started at a different school. I was just kind of a blank slate, like no one really told me about teaching or how to teach or what to do. So I just did it the way that I wanted to so there was kind of a peace that I didn’t have to be like this robot teacher, I could just kind of come in and just do the things that I saw fit. So I think it went really well. My dad is a pastor and before I was a teacher I would spend a lot of time working with the youth group so I was always comfortable around teenagers. So it was actually a fairly easy transition for me.”

Mr. Hudson is known as big hearted and very friendly and outgoing. Students say they really enjoy the class not just by the extra help but from what they learn. Dugan Rowe, 10, stated, “Personally, I like when there is more than one person to help around. I enjoy mainly learning how to film and the new friends I made in the class make it better. I have learned many things but mainly to be more comfortable with being in front of the camera and how to film.”

Photo caption: Albion Fellows Bacon is referred to as Indiana’s Municipal Housekeeper.

By Jeremiah Edwards

The Progressive Era, from the 1890s to the 1920s, was an era of intense social and political reform aimed at making progress towards a better society. During this era issues such as labor rights, women’s suffrage, economic reform, environmental protections, public housing reform, and the welfare of the poor were all addressed. Indiana had its own reformer, someone who wanted to better the spaces people lived in, a woman who would become Indiana’s Municipal Housekeeper: Albion Fellows Bacon.

Bacon was an American reformer and writer. She’s largely remembered for her efforts to improve public housing standards. Bacon was very involved in tenement reform and was vital in the passage of legislation to improve housing conditions in Indiana in 1909, 1913, and 1917. 

 Bacon was born on April 8, 1865, in Evansville Indiana. She was the youngest daughter of Reverend Albion Fellows and Mary Fellows and a younger sister to writer Annie Fellows Johnston. 

After the passing of Bacon’s father a few weeks before her birth, Albion’s mother Mary returned to her hometown of McCutchanville, Indiana. Bacon would attribute her early life in a small, rural town as her motivation for her efforts to achieve urban reform. 

Bacon would go on to graduate from Evansville High School in 1883, she would then work for her sister, Annie Fellows Johnston, who would become a professional writer, as her secretary during her tour in Europe. 

On October 11, 1888, Bacon would marry Hillary Bacon, the owner of Woolworth’s shop in Evansville. The couple would have four children together. 

At the turn of the century, Bacon would become very concerned about the effects of industrialization and urbanization. Her main interest was improving living conditions in Evansville. Bacon then became active in her community; she volunteered as a “friendly visitor” for local charities. She helped organize a Flower Mission group, which donated and distributed flowers to poor working girls.  She formed an Anti-Tuberculosis League that would help with preventing the development of tuberculosis, and also a Working Girls’ Association, that helped young women that were working in factories and mills. The association would later affiliate itself with the YWCA (Young Women’s Christian Association) in Evansville. Bacon was also a part of the Monday Night Club, a group of influential individuals interested in charitable work, her focus being its housing committee. 

Bacon showed her dedication and determination to achieve her goals by attending every session of the Indiana General Assembly from 1909 and 1917 due to her agreement with the Indianapolis Commercial Club. The Indianapolis Commercial Club would sponsor her legislation if she attended sessions of the Indiana General Assembly. During her time attending these assemblies, Bacon would garnish support for her legislation from other groups.

Even after achieving her primary goal of establishing a state-wide  law, Bacon would continue working as a social welfare activist. In 1917 she became chair of the Child Welfare Committee, a part of the Women’s Section of the Indiana State Council of Defense. She would then work on the passage of school attendance laws and establish a juvenile probation system.

An organization was named in her honor, Albion Fellows Bacon Center, located in Evansville. The organization currently provides such things as residential and non-residential services, community outreach, primary abuse prevention, sexual assault help, legal advocacy, as well as children’s and crisis response programs.

Bacon would die of heart failure on December 10, 1933, at her home in Evansville. She is praised as a symbol of the housing reform movement and Evansville’s best known and most loved woman. 

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albion-Fellows-Bacon

By: Alex Smith/Staff Writer

Photo Caption: Mrs. Krysha Voelz, English and Film Literature teacher, helps Chelsea Adair, 9, with her assignment in English 9. Photo Credit: Alex Smith/Staff Writer

Mrs. Krysha Voelz, English and Film Literature teacher, has recently been voted Teacher of the Year for GCHS by her peers. Voelz, who has been teaching English for 8 years at GC, talked about what makes teaching worth all the stress, all the grading, planning, and overall time involved. She said, “It is worth it whenever I see a student feel accomplished and proud of his/her efforts.” 

Voelz mentioned several positive aspects of being an English teacher. She said, “I enjoy multiple aspects of it. I really enjoy forming relationships with teens and watching them mature socially, intellectually, and emotionally throughout high school. I also LOVE analyzing literature with students who discover new meaning and have those ‘Aha moments’!” 

Katlyn Garner, 11, discussed what her favorite thing about Film Literature with Voelz is. She said, “She is a good teacher; she’s really friendly. She really likes to talk about films and it’s nice to talk to her about that sort of stuff.” 

McKenzie Bell, 9, talked about her favorite aspect of English with Voelz. She said, “My favorite thing about Mrs. Voelz is how caring she is about her students’ education and our feelings. She also makes eye contact [with us] when explaining things which shows she’s genuinely communicating.”

Voelz mentioned how she has handled teaching English, Film Literature, and F111, a college composition class, during a pandemic. She said, “It has been extremely challenging. I have had to let some things go and allow myself the same ‘grace’ I give to others. On the flip side, I have discovered new teaching strategies and have added [them] to my ‘wheelhouse.’ “

Bell talked about what Voelz does to help her learn. She said, “Something she does to help me learn is check in occasionally to make sure I’m on track.” Garner discussed what Voelz does to help her learn. She said, “She’s very patient, she’s great at explaining things and creates good conversations.”

Voelz talked about what teachers or mentors that she follows on social media and why. She said, “I chuckle at this question because I am not one for using social media much. However, I do follow one English teacher, Laura Randazzo, on YouTube and Teachers Pay Teachers. She is a high school English teacher about my age who creates fabulous lessons for her students. She also makes some entertaining videos. She is my idol!” She also mentioned who the most influential teacher in her life was and why. She said, “The teacher who impacted me the most was my high school English teacher, Mrs. Barbara Taylor. She was my teacher during my freshman year as well as my senior year. She was tough, funny, and inspired a love for the classics. I was first exposed to classics such as The Iliad and The Odyssey as well as works by Shakespeare in her room.”

Garner further commented on Voelz, “I’ve only had her for a short period of time but she’s just a really good teacher.” Bell told a memorable story about Voelz: “I was struggling with my grades and she noticed so she called me up and talked to me about it and offered to help me which no other teacher has done before.” Voelz discussed memorable moments in her teaching career. She said, “There are so many; however, I am always moved when I receive a card or an email from a student, years after I have had him/her in class, to thank me for making a difference in his/her life.”

Bell talked about what Voelz does to make English class fun. She said, “Something she does to make class fun is letting us work with friends.” As for Film Lit, Garner said, “Like I said, she’s very passionate about films and talking about films and there are good conversations.”

Voelz discussed how she balances her work and home life. She said, “This is tough, as I haven’t fully achieved this balance. It is a juggling act, for sure. Like most teachers, I take a lot home with me. This includes grading, planning, and responding to emails. I go through phases where I am more ‘balanced’ than others. Currently, my husband and I are making an effort to exercise together and get to sleep before 11:00. It always helps to achieve balance when you have someone who provides encouragement and accountability.” She also mentioned what she does outside of teaching English. She said, “I try to exercise regularly and enjoy working out in the gym and outside. I walk, jog, do yoga, and swim. In addition, I spend a lot of time with my family. I have one daughter who lives at home and three other adult children who live in Indiana, whom I see often.”

Garner mentioned what Voelz has taught her about in Film Literature this Semester. She said, “Right now we’re watching a film that’s about history, which is really cool. We’ve watched a lot of different types of films and different styles of films.” Bell talked about what Voelz has taught her about in English 9 this Semester. She said, “She’s taught us about the story Romeo and Juliet and Greek mythology, my personal favorites.” Voelz discussed her favorite lesson or activity to do with the kids. She said, “I really enjoy Socratic seminars. It is extremely uplifting to observe students lead and discuss issues they have independently noted in texts they read for class.”

Bell talked about what her least favorite thing about English with Voelz is. She said, “My least favorite thing is doing work on our own.” As for Film Lit, Garner said, “Most of the reading can be a little bit continuous and the notes can be a bit boring sometimes but there’s good conversations.” For her part, Voelz discussed her least favorite thing about being an English teacher. She said, “My least favorite part is the paperwork (email, etc.) I know it is important to communicate with others, but sometimes it seems to take over my life. Balancing email communication with grading, planning, and teaching is challenging.”

Voelz talked about what she wants students to learn in English class. She said, “My number one goal is for students to realize they are capable of achieving whatever they work to do.” She also mentioned how she keeps the kids engaged. She said, “I typically find that their engagement is related to my enthusiasm. If I enjoy what I am reading or discussing, I usually find that my engagement is contagious. I also think engagement rises as the students have more ownership in the lesson.”

Garner talked about what she is going to remember the most about Voelz. She said, “Probably just the classroom morale and how many movies we watched.” Bell commented on what she is going to remember the most about Voelz. She said, “Something I will remember most is how much she cared [about us] and she is really good at teaching.” Voelz concluded by commenting on what she wants kids to remember about her. She said, “I hope that they remember that I care and that most people in life are willing to help you when you show effort.”