English Teacher to Head Journalism Staff
It’s easy to say things have had their fair share of changes during the last two years here at Calloway. Aside from the obvious mandate to wear masks, some faculty have had to adjust to an entirely new set of… well, everything. New rooms, new schedule, new curriculum, even the newest (and by far the worst, according to several teachers) shortage of planning periods. One teacher in particular—Mrs. Kimberly Barrett—has an entirely new position ahead of her. With the retirement of former journalism and English teacher Kris Fazi (a former employee of the Ledger & Times) sadly behind us, Barrett has taken up the reigns as journalism advisor (amidst the reprisal of her role as English teacher).
Describing the new job as, “a fun, albeit challenging, experience,” Barrett immediately threw the program’s students right into the thick of it, discussing her big plans for the year. Such plans included launching a website and potential podcast for the program, photography, modernizing the newspaper, and even selling advertisements for it. Mrs. Fazi herself likened the class—according to Mrs. Barrett—to, “building an airplane while it is in the air,” so it should come as no surprise that the class can have a great deal of stress or anxiety. For the English teacher of twenty-six years, Barrett claims, “Fazi has been at the helm of this business for a long time. Since Mrs. Fazi worked at the Ledger before teaching, she had prior experience with this ‘build it as you sell it’ mentality. I have not. I do not want to lead my kids into creating a product that doesn’t make our predecessors, advertisers, school, and community proud.”
Despite these fears, Mrs. Barrett is taking everything in stride. With her plan to make the program mostly student-run, she explains that she is fully confident in the creativity and capability of her staff. “There is nothing better - honestly, nothing! - as a teacher, than watching students soar. That alone is what I anticipate. I cannot say enough about how dedicated this crew is to the daily grind that makes The Laker Review work. Our editor-in-chief, Ellie Whisman, and Associate Editor, Josie Verive, handle the chaos like pros (and keep me sane). I love this staff and cannot wait for the community to see what they are capable of creating. It is going to be an amazing year.”
As for Mrs. Fazi, who retired on August 31, she had a few words for Barrett before departing, “[Mrs. Barrett] does everything with flair. She is making the journalism department her own and is bringing journalism into the 21st century. It’s long overdue, and she’s just the person to do it. I can’t wait to see what she does with it!”
