Shayna Reynard, the new dean of students, begins her first year in her new position with many ideas on how to connect with students, even in times of remote learning.

“I think one of my biggest goals, especially starting this school year, is to build relationships with students, families, and other staff members and really try to listen to what the needs are and where I might be able to help and support,” she said.

In her previous teaching position, Reynard found that she wanted to help other teachers and students in more areas than just the classroom.

“I really felt like I was constantly looking for leadership opportunities within the school I worked in,” she said. “I was wondering why I was going to school for science education when I have skills that would allow me to support teachers.”

As a previous sixth grade science and English Language Learners teacher, Reynard looks forward to facing the challenges that lie ahead in her new position.

“If there’s a behavior issue, a student might come down to my office to figure out what might be the best course of action to support the student to get back on track with their learning and communicate with the teacher to find out what can be done to be supported on their end,” she said.

PBIS, Positive Behavior Intervention and Support, is what students know as the Wildcat Way. Administrators like Reynard use this program to maintain a consistent learning environment for students.

“I work with our PBIS team to make sure students know the expectations and we are clearly defining the expectations for students so they know how they are expected to behave in the building to keep everyone safe, and also to demonstrate respect and responsibility,” she said.

In addition to her responsibilities with the PBIS team, Reynard finds that her new position allows her to take on challenges all around the school.

“The cool thing about this job is that there is a lot of flexibility, meaning that if a situation arises that I am able to react, so I am not really stuck in one spot,” she said. “I am able to go wherever the need is.”

Reynard works with the West counselors, social workers, and the school psychologist. Being part of a team allows them to brainstorm or problem solve efficiently, especially during the unpredictable times of living in a pandemic.

“Right now what I’m doing is trying to support students and families however I can,” she said. “If students are struggling with work, I can reach out to them for whatever reason and help make a plan.”

Some of her other goals are to learn the different systems at West and to utilize her first year as a learning year. She hopes that her work will allow her to build relationships with students and get to know the West environment even better.

“In order to be successful you need to know the culture and the climate of where you are working,” she said. “For me I think it’s just a lot of listening, learning, and building relationships so that I have the ability to support people when different needs arise.”

The School Resource Officer (SRO) position provides a great opportunity for Heather Brickham to work with students, staff, and faculty, all while also ensuring safety for those at West.

“There is a wide variety of things that a school officer does,” she said. “First and foremost, I work with the safety of everyone in the building, whether that's staff or students or their family members if they are there attending an event.”

However, Brickham did not always want to be a police officer. As a UW-La Crosse graduate, she studied psychology and human behavior. This curiosity aided her in the field she would eventually go into.

“Those two things really gave me a unique perspective on the different problems that different populations have and the reason that those problems exist,” she said. “That made me want to enter law enforcement to try to help the people that need it. I wanted to focus on an SRO position because I could be a police officer but also be able to help students, which I find really rewarding.”

Working with the Oshkosh Police Department (OPD) for five years, Brikham has been assigned to multiple positions, her most recent one being second shift patrol.

“I was and still am involved in a number of special teams including the electronic search specialist team with our project lifesaver team program,” she said. “I am also a part of our child abduction response team and the OPD swat team. I was doing all of those things as well as teaching D.A.R.E. before I came to West.”

Aside from keeping those at West safe, Brikham also attends to incidents that concern West students and their families.

“There are times when an SRO needs to get involved if there is any city violation or criminal violation,” she said. “If people inside the building are doing things that they aren't supposed to do, I would investigate those matters if they are brought up by school staff or other students.”

However, Brickham’s duties are not limited to law enforcement.

“Some people have questions or concerns of things happening outside of school that I can try to help them with, and sometimes people just need someone to talk to,” she said. “I'm not a counselor, but I'm always here to listen.”

Along with the other new administration in the school, Brickham was unable to fully experience every aspect due to the majority of the students learning at home.

“I never really got a true feeling for what it should be like normally with everyone learning in person,” she said.

Last year’s shooting, and all of the implication that followed was her first exposure to the students

at West. After the incidents that occured last December, Brickham was placed on duty along with another officer where she was able to witness first hand the resiliency of the school community.

“Seeing the entire school staff and students rally together and how they were just so positive really demonstrated teamwork,” she said. “They were just really amazing to be around those two weeks; I knew that I was going to love West, and I was just really impressed with the students and staff.”

Brickham’s main focus this year is to build relationships with the people at West so that they can feel safe around her and know that she is there to support them. She understands the mistrust of police in today’s society but hopes to make a positive impact on students and their views of police officers.

“I try to understand why people feel this way and I want to try to earn people's trust and show them that what they might think about law enforcement isn't always true, not everybody is the same, and I really am here to help,” she said.

Even though school looks different for most, Brickham continues to encourage students to reach out to those around them.

“Don't be hesitant to reach out to staff; they have their challenges with all that is going on and they want to be able to help,” she said. “Don't be afraid to reach out to classmates or friends about things that you are struggling with. We are all in this together and nobody is expecting perfection.”

As assistant principal, Cory Beaulieu works alongside Aaron Herm to work through any concerns from parents, students, or staff at West. He has found that working in administration has provided many opportunities for him to interact with new people.

“The thing I really love is that I’ve gotten to meet with and interact with more people from many different areas of our school than I ever did as a teacher,” he said. “I really loved getting out and meeting all of the new people. We have so many awesome teachers and staff members at our school.”

Attending UW-Oshkosh for his undergraduate and master’s degree, Beaulieu was motivated by the idea of working within a school as more than a teacher. He wanted to be involved with the moving pieces of an administration team. As the former dean of students, Beaulieu looks forward to more opportunities while working with the staff at West.

“It’s a big shift; the first year that you are starting in a new position it is kind of strange to be in the same building but in a different role- to have different responsibilities takes getting used to for anybody,” he said.

Although Beaulieu has many fond memories from his time as an English teacher and his year as the dean of students, he looks forward to the challenges and new responsibilities that he must face this year.

“As compared to the dean, which I was last year, the main difference is that I’m also working more intensely with staff, so I have several departments that I oversee,” he said. “I work more directly with teachers than I did last year as dean.”

Due to the unpredictable effects of COVID-19, Beaulieu found that the hybrid learning weeks from the beginning of the school year presented opportunities for him to adapt to the challenges.

“This year is so different because of COVID,” he said. “When we were doing hybrid learning, the majority of my time was spent running all over. People stopped by with questions or concerns that they needed help with, I had meetings with students, made phone calls to parents, went throughout the halls, and spent time supervising the lunchroom.”

With each day providing new challenges, Beaulieu enjoys the fast pace of his job as he helps with discipline issues and with new changes brought into the building.

“One thing that I love about my job is that I’m always moving around, doing something different everyday; there’s definitely no script,” he said.

Moving into his tenth year of working with students, Beaulieu remains inspired by the students and staff that make up the unique environment at West.

“What I love about working at a school is that it is filled with good people,” he said. “Some other environments are competitive, but in schools, people are kind; the ultimate goal is student success.”

By Grace Weber and Abby Eaton

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue II

October 30th, 2020

Welcome New Admin!