South Salem’s interior front lobby. Photo taken by Zoey Keele ’24
With the many other additions to South Salem High School’s staff, teachers were by far the biggest inclusion.
Greg Berry
Dr. Greg Berry is one of the few people who got a new curriculum. Berry graduated from Eastern Oregon University with his Bachelor’s in English and Secondary Education, and a Master’s in Education. Additionally, he graduated from Portland State University for his Doctorate in Educational Leadership. He taught English at South for 25 years, but this year, he is teaching IB Psychology and U.S. Government.
“I love working with students and watching them learn and grow. I believe strongly in the importance of literacy and thinking skills and try to focus on helping students develop those skills. I also enjoy getting to know students and trying to build positive relationships with them,
Berry said.
Besides teaching high schoolers, Berry taught college students. He taught English and writing classes full-time at Chemeketa Community College and continues to teach them part-time. He became a teacher because so many of his high school teachers inspired him to be.
“South High is a wonderful, strong community. Staff members are caring and supportive, and everyone supports and helps each other. I also appreciate the diversity in our student population, and find that our students are accepting of others’ individuality and diverse characteristics,” Berry said.
Sarah Jones
Sarah Jones is a new South staff member who teaches English Language Development 9 (ELD) and English 12 with a co-teacher, Niki Willis. She taught ELD at Roberts High School for five years before coming to South.To introduce and get familiar with students, Jones does what she calls, circle time.
“I begin my classes with Circle Time where students answer questions and share about themselves. I also have students check their class grades so they can start the week being accountable for their efforts toward their success,” Jones said.
Not only does this activity let Jones get to know her students, it allows them to get to know her, and how they are doing in her class. She always wants to make sure her students feel welcome.
“I use community-building activities and warm-ups as well as make my classroom as warm and inviting as possible,” Jones said.
Emily Farnell
Emily Farnell is a math teacher and teaches Algebra I. She went to Western Oregon University (WOU), where she studied education with a concentration in math. At WOU she was able to take classes and student teach at the same time to get her teacher’s license. In her senior year of college, she student-taught at Sprague High School. She looked up to her teachers in high school and wanted to be like them as a teacher. But, with any job, there are some challenges.
“There is always something to do and I have a really bad memory. Every time I think I have finished doing everything that I needed to do I always end up realizing after the fact that I forgot a bunch of things that I meant to complete like responding to emails or printing out materials needed for class, so if you ever see me and I look quite hectic it is most definitely because I forgot to do something,” Farnell said.
Coming to South has made Farnell feel welcomed, as she believes that South has a good sense of community as a school. Throughout her high school years, she was inspired by two of her teachers and wanted to be like them as she came to be a teacher herself.
“When I was in high school I had two math teachers in particular who taught me well so that math was always my best subject. They were also both very funny and welcoming individuals who made me laugh and made me really enjoy being in their classes. I wanted to be able to be that person for future students so I became a teacher,” Farnell said.
