The start of a school year is guaranteed to bring many new faces, and usually quite a few of those include teachers. This year brought 11 new staff members to Taylorsville High, including a new assistant principal, two Gear Up counselors, and teachers in various departments. These new teachers are very diverse, from fresh out of college to veterans, with different backgrounds, personalities, and styles.

“[Taylorsville] is very friendly to both staff and students,” said Dayan Castaneda when asked what her favorite thing about Taylorsville is so far. Castaneda is among the 11 new members of staff, and she is this year’s college liaison. She attended the University of Utah before starting her job here at Taylorsville. This year, she is looking forward to working with students who want to succeed during and after high school.

Another member of staff gained in 2017 is Jami Hutchins, the new assistant principal, filling the spot left by Waisea Lesuma’s retirement last year. Hutchins spent last year as assistant principal at Granite Park Jr. High, and the previous 17 years as assistant principal for Skyline High School. Compared to Taylorsville, he said Granite Park was much less funded and Skyline wasn’t as diverse.

When asked what he was most excited about for this year, Hutchins said, “Making differences in a good school.”

Jennifer Palamino, who’s teaching social studies and debate this year, said “I’m really excited to get debate going and hopefully creating a lasting and bigger debate program.” She came to Taylorsville after graduating from UVU, and when asked about her favorite parts of Taylorsville, she said, “The other teachers are super nice and supportive, so there’s a good community of teachers. The kids as well, I haven’t had any kids be straight up disrespectful. It seems like this is a good batch of kids and a good school community.

Besides these three, Taylorsville has also gained Giselle Castro (Gear Up Counselor), Angela Herrin (Math), JB Ili, (Gear Up), Nicole Lavely (Art), Arielle Meredith (Math), Maria Otero (Spanish), Jacque Tietjen (LIA/Health), and Mary Ward (English/Swim Coach).