2
News
March
Downs chosen as principal of Wilsonville High School
J ennifer
SrrroN___________
From budget cutbacks to
larger class sizes, things will
look a different for the 2011-
2012 school year. For Aaron
Downs, assistant principal,
next year represents a new
beginning, as well as the end
of a chapter in his life at WLHS
that has lasted nearly 12 years.
After going through an
application process that
included submitting essays,
appearing before interview
committees and advancing
through multiple rounds of
selection, Downs was hired as
principal at Wilsonville High
School. He will replace Andy
Sommer, who is retiring after
working as principal for 11
years.
"I feel honored and
humbled to have been chosen.
I'm very excited, but I know
it's going to be a big change,"
Downs said. The sentiment
of change was echoed by Lou
Bailey, principal.
"It's good news and bad
news. It's good because he has
aspired for his professional
growth to become a high
school principal," Bailey said.
"But it's sad because he's a
big part of our team here.
He has made a lot of great
relationships with kids and is a
big part of our culture here."
Having graduated from
WLHS in 1992, Downs has
very strong ties to the building
and the community. After
graduating from college with a
teaching degree, he spent two
and a half years in the business
world before returning to
WLHS as a substitute teacher.
He was hired as a social
studies teacher and basketball
coach, and later became an
instructional coordinator and
Before he was an assistant
principal, Downs was a
teacher, and he says some of
his favorite memories are those
from the classroom. One of
those memories centers around
a practical joke he and his
students would play during
fire drills. After the drill was
Photo by Laurel Massaro
Aaron Downs, assistant principal, bonds with students on ’A' porch
during break. Downs was recently hired as Principal at Wilsonville
High School, and says that he will miss the students at WLHS and
the relationships he has made here.
eventually assistant principal.
He said that while all of the
positions have been quite
different, they have all been
beneficial to his development
as an educator.
"I really appreciate all
Lou (Bailey) has done for
me," Downs said. "He has
allowed me to have leadership
opportunities that have helped
me prepare for this job."
over, his class would rush back
inside the school and settle into
a random teacher's classroom.
That teacher would return to
find Downs in the middle of
a lesson with his entire class
seated, listening attentively,
in his or her classroom. Soon,
other teachers started to do the
same thing so that eventually
all the teachers would run
back from fire drills so that
their classrooms wouldn't be
infiltrated by random teachers
and their students. Downs
hopes to bring this sense of
fun and lightheartedness to
Wilsonville.
"They have an incredible
community (at Wilsonville).
I want to bring my support
to our teachers and staff. But
mostly I just want to bring
myself. I like being a dork,"
Downs said. That sense
of enjoyment may start to
infiltrate WHS as soon as this
spring. Downs says he plans
on starting the transition early
in the spring by being at WHS
a few days a week, while
slowly integrating himself into
the school and the community.
"Everyone has been
very supportive and very
encouraging of the transition,"
Downs said. "But it's not like
I'm going to disappear. I'll still
be around here, just not every
minute of every day."
Downs plans to attend
school events such as baseball
games and choir performances
as well as being present during
the school day, something that
the WLHS administration team
supports.
"Anything he can do
between now and June to start
developing relationships over
there and familiarizing himself
with their culture will help him
when he starts in September,"
Bailey said. "We will support
him through this period of
transition, but he will have to
juggle two roles for a while."
The administration team
will also have to shift around
roles and responsibilities in the
coming year as they will not
be filling the vacant assistant
principal position, one of
the many ways the district is
attempting to cut down on
spending.
It's undeniable that Downs
has made a lasting impression
on many WLHS students in
his 12 years here. Students of
every age have appreciated his
down-to-earth personality as
well as his approachableness
and humor.
"I was really surprised
to hear he was going to
Wilsonville," Taylor Rose,
senior, said. "I'm really happy
for him, but he will be missed
because he added a lot of great
attributes to the school."
"I'm sad that he's leaving
but I'm really happy for him,"
Jade Chang, senior class
council member, said.
This is reflected in the
legacy Downs hopes to leave.
"1 want to be remembered
as someone who built great
relationships with everyone,
as someone who like to have
fun and cared about the kids,"
Downs said. "I'd like to thank
everyone for all the years of
support. I don't even really
view this as a job. It's just a
great place to be with great
people."
National Merit finalists take another step closer to scholarships
A lison F ieldhouse
Scoring in the 99th
percentile on the PSAT is
difficult, but for three WLHS
students, this was only the
first step in a process that
could lead to scholarship
money for college. After
being named National Merit
Scholar semifinalists, Joshua
Grelewicz, Samantha Ing
and Sabrina Levy, seniors,
began the application process
that is similar to the college
application process.
"We had to fill out an
application to become a
finalist," Levy said. "This
included writing an essay,
sending a transcript and
SAT scores and having
recommendations."
There are only 15,000
finalists, which includes the
top 1 percent of students
nationwide based on their
PSAT scores and application.
Selected from the pool of
finalists, each could win a
$2,500 scholarship. Finalists
can also name a college as
their top choice to possibly
receive more money from that
school.
All three plan on attending
college next year. Ing plans
to either attend Wellesley or
Portland State University for
undergraduate studies and
is undecided on whether
she wants to take a year off
between high school and
college. Levy and Grelewicz
know they want to attend
college right away, but are not
sure where.
Grelewicz, Ing and
Levy are strong students,
each taking a bevy of
advanced placement classes.
English, AP Environmental
Science, AP Government, AP
Psychology, AP Spanish and
AP Physics.
It would be difficult for
anyone to stay on top of
their studies with so many
AP courses, but each has
their own special place for
studying to ensure they do
favorite people to kick it
with," Ing said.
Levy's and Grelewicz's
study spots are closer to
home.
"The best place to study is
at my desk and for downtime,
anywhere out in the sun is
perfect," Levy said. Similarly,
Grelewicz enjoys the comfort
Photo graphics by Emily McNabb
Sabrina Levy, Samantha Ing and Josh Grelewicz, seniors, meditate in preparation for upcoming tests.
After becoming National Merit Scholar Finalists, the three now have a chance to earn scholarship money
for college. In order to qualify as finalists, they had to have scores in the top 1 percent of all seniors in
the United States on the PSAT.
Grelewicz’s schedule
includes AP English, AP
Statistics and AP physics, Ing
takes AP Government, AP
Spanish, AP Statistics and
AP Environmental Science
and Levy, with the heaviest
schedule, is enrolled in six
AP courses, including AP
not slip up.
"By far, the best place to
study and have down time
is the music building. The
practice rooms give you
isolation from other people
and distractions, while just
outside of the practice rooms
are music kids, who are my
of his home.
"My desk is a good
place or in the summer, my
backyard," Grelewicz said.
Along with being strong
students, they all have
hobbies and extracurricular
activities that they are
passionate about. Levy has
been dancing ballet since she
was in elementary school and
Grelewicz is a member of the
band, Top Hat Confederacy.
Ing has some interesting
hobbies of her own.
"I enjoy hollowing
out hardcover books and
practicing the violin," Ing
said. She is also a member
of the school's orchestra and
enjoys listening to Ke$ha in
her spare time.
The trio members each
have an inspirational person
or motivation for the choices
they make.
"Noam Chomsky (linguist).
But in all seriousness, I don't
look to any one person for
inspiration—I try to garner a
little piece of inspiration from
everyone," Levy said.
According to Grelewicz
he looks up to Confucius
(Chinese philosopher) and
William Blake (poet).
Ing had one specific person
in mind.
"Justin Altemus is a huge
role model for me because
he reminds me of Ke$ha in
the way that he is unafraid
of the h8ters. He once said
"seriously, they'll put this in
an Amplifier article?" (NMS
Finalists article in March 2010
issue) and I was so inspired,
that I decided to study for
the PSAT. I owe him all of my
success," Ing said.