new principal

In an interview Thursday, Feb 20, new principal Dr. Gail Holder discusses her ambitions for the school. “I’m going to do everything I can to be the very best version of the building principal,” Holder said. | Quinn Franken

educational journey.” She will replace retiring Tobie Waldeck as principal Wednesday, July 1, which will be made official when the Board of Education formally approves the hire.

Holder’s goal entering this position is to push the school to be the “num- ber one high school in Kansas.” Her plan of action is to confer with every- one in the building, from administra

“EVERY SINGLE STUDENT DESERVES THE OPPORTUNITY TO GROW EVERY SINGLE YEAR.” new principal dr. gail holder

tors and students to custodians and cafeteria workers, to determine where the school can improve.

“I’m going to spend a long time getting to know what Mill Valley al- ready has in place before I start saying, ‘This is what I think we should do,’” Holder said. “That is a collaborative decision that happens after a lot of dis- cussions and planning.”

Bourland-Kirk can affirm that Holder will put in the effort to fulfill the school’s needs, whether that be through action or everyday motivation.

“If you bring something to her atten- tion, she will quickly get to work trying to solve or seek a resolution; [she’s] very ac- tion-oriented,” Bourland-Kirk said. “She is personable with staff and students, ask- ing you about other things, not always about school happenings. Her passion re- mains very evident whether that is bring- ing music to staff meetings, supplying us with snacks at parent-teacher confer- ences or having props at a [professional learning committee meeting].”

Holder believes her job as principal is to ensure every student finds their high school experience to be fulfilling.

“My role in their experience is to make sure as best as I can that their teachers are taking care of, that their facility is tak- ing care of, that they have all the resourc- es they need,” Holder said. “I would hope that they would be able to see the 20,000-foot view of what it is we’ve done and accomplished, and they’re talking about their overall experience, that it has been joyful, it has been meaningful and has been relevant and they are ready for whatever comes next.”

favorite food holder’s hot takes Get to know the new prinicpal by learning about her favorite things

salmon

hobby

working out

favorite color

navy blue

favorite movie to kill a mockingbird

Features| 10 Design by Anastasia O’Brien March 5, 2020 Senior Joan Downey taught herself how to crochet and speak multiple languages SELF-TAUGHT SKILLS

Sitting in the library, senior Joan Downey crochets a bumblebee. She will be selling them during Relay for Life as a way to raise money for the event. Last semester, she spent a lot of time crocheting in the library because she was librarian Andy Shelly’s teacher assistant. | Jordin Harris

AIDEN BURKE reporter/photographer A Harvard Business Review study outlines that it takes 6 months to learn a new skill. This arduous process presents difficulties for most, but to senior Joan Downey, teach- ing herself new skills comes easily. Downey has taught herself skills from cooking and crocheting to linguistics. When Downey found herself inter- ested in linguistics in her sixth grade World Languages class and the content offered by the class wasn’t enough, she figured the best solution was to teach herself. Downey has taken efforts to learn Spanish, French, Russian, Man- darin, Italian and Guarani.

The tools Downey uses to teach herself languages range from pro- grams like Duolingo to books and podcasts in new languages. These re- sources aren’t particularly difficult to find, either; they can be checked out from the library or found online.

With something like learning lan- guages, most of the struggle resides in the ability to retain information. To Downey, the most effective way to do this is with easily memorized mne- monic devices.

“I use a lot of mnemonic devices,” Downey said. “I mostly just look for patterns and connections to things I

already know.”

Downey also believes this mental repetition and memorization helps keep your mind sharp. When it comes to other skills, however, the learn- ing process is very different. Downey taught herself how to crochet different animals, in order to have something to do during class and help her focus.

When it comes to her crocheting hobby, it took Downey a few months of learning before she was “satisfied with any of her work.” Contrary to the process of learning a language, the learning process for a hobby like this involves a lot more guesswork.

“It’s just a lot of trial and error. I know what I want to be able to do, and I try different things to get there un- til something sticks,” Downey said. “I still don’t know how to read all of the patterns and charts you see online. I just look at pictures of crocheting and start reverse-engineering it and doing it myself.”

One of Downey’s close friends, se- nior Eva Burke, shares that Downey learning these skills requires lots of creativity, but it goes a long way to better oneself.

“[Downey] likes to create things and improve herself and others,” Burke said. “Crocheting and learning languages help to do that by building creativity and giving her inspiration.”

learning a new skill Tools Joan uses to learn new skills

Duolingo was used for learning vocabulary 1.

Listens to news podcasts in foreign language 2.