SWHS Welcomes New Staff
After serving as a teacher at South Windsor High School for the past four years, Mrs. Jessica Serrano has transitioned into her new role as associate principal.
Before joining South Windsor High School, Serrano worked for Hartford Public Schools as a Spanish teacher and department leader.
In her new role, Serrano has had to adjust to the unique demands of being an assistant principal.
“I am adjusting to the position of everyday being a different challenge,” Serrano said. “Everyday is different, less predictable than being a teacher. Longer days in a different environment, but I do enjoy the different aspects.”
As she navigates these new responsibilities, she recognizes the new challenges while still keeping her focus on students’ happiness. She describes her experience right now as “Completely different from last year other than always thinking about what is best for students and how I can bring them up,” Serrano explained.
Serrano is a people person, and her new position allows her to use those skills rather than being confined to one space.
“I get to see the whole school environment instead of just what’s happening with my students in my classroom. The students inspire me every day; the little details you all share are what this is all about for me,” Serrano said.
Her day at South Windsor High School is about constantly building and making new connections with students and learning about everyone in the school. Her goal is to make everybody feel safe and make them feel like they belong.
“I hope that the students understand that I am someone everyone can access, and they can rely on for support. I’m here to help them, and I genuinely care about every single student. I want to make sure every student is okay. I want to be able to hear both the good and the bad—there’s no such thing as oversharing with me. I want to know the small details, like if you started a new job, got a license, etc. I hope the students see that I genuinely care,” Serrano shared.
Her priority is to let the students know that she will always be there for them. Her goal is not just to ensure that everyone behaves or follows the rules but also to help students thrive and be themselves. Serrano is a passionate and bright presence in the community and brings that energy to the school. “I’m loud, and I’m proud of every single person in this school. I’m too proud to stay quiet about it,” she said.
Outside of school, Serrano enjoys spending quality time with her family. One surprising fact about her is her love for hard rock music. In addition, Serrano has a variety of interests, including restoring furniture, shopping, dancing and singing. She also has a passion for decorating, which reflects her creative side.
South Windsor High School recently welcomed Mr. Jeremy Walz as the newest member of the social studies department. Walz, who is primarily teaching Modern World History, has already made an impact with his flexibility and enthusiasm.
Even though he does not have a space to entirely call his own classroom yet, he has claimed the transition into the building has been “a very positive experience” for him.
“Everybody’s been really friendly, really eager to learn, and the staff and students have been really awesome for my transition,” Walz told The Prowl.
Walz has taught before, but still wants to learn and improve himself to be the best educator he can be, as he is still on the earlier side of his career. It is this commitment to professional growth that enables him to be enthusiastic and energetic in the classroom.
Reflecting on his decision to join the South Windsor community, Walz explained: “It reinvigorated my love and passion for teaching, and I’m super excited to share my knowledge with my students”.
In a subject like Modern World History, student engagement can often hinge on the teacher’s approach. Walz ensures his students stay interested by blending traditional methods with physical demonstrations, avoiding the monotony of lectures and PowerPoint slides. Thankfully for Modern World History students, Walz keeps the energy up.
He teaches his lessons not just by reading off a Powerpoint, but also by doing physical demonstrations to keep the students engaged.
Walz can be found in the history hallway, teaching his classes with passion and energy, and he is already proving to be a valuable addition to the South Windsor staff.
The Prowl is shining a spotlight on a new Spanish teacher in the world language department, Mr. Paco Ruiz. Although it’s a big change, Ruiz states he is ready to start a new year with SWHS Spanish students.
Ruiz is a native Spanish speaker from Spain who is excited to share his heritage with high school students. Although he is new to SWHS, Ruiz has taught for over 30 years at various schools.
“I like being part of the high school environment because that is what I have been doing all my life,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz ensures his classes are engaging, fun and he has intentions of creating strong connections with his students.
“I teach high school because I enjoy interacting with the students in the classroom and outside of the classroom,” Ruiz told The Prowl.
As an avid music lover, Ruiz loves to bond over artists and songs, especially Taylor Swift.
“I like how he can make us laugh, he always finds a way to bring up Taylor Swift,” said a student of his, Quinn Worthington.
Ruiz loves being part of the high school environment, but has found the transition here from Timothy Edwards Middle School challenging.
“It is a bit overwhelming learning all the new procedures and routines,” Ruiz commented.
He misses his teacher friends back at TEMS, but is excited to make new ones here at SWHS. Mr. Ruiz’s wife is a teacher in the world language department, as well. He enjoys being right down the hall from her.
In addition to being a teacher here, Ruiz is also the JV girls soccer coach. He has been coaching for over 20 years and offers the team new insight and skill development. He loves the sport and always talks about his favorite players or teams in class.
South Windsor High School is excited to welcome Mr. Ruiz here, and can’t wait for the first of many great years with him.
In April, a new member of the SWHS community was hired as a science teacher, Mr. Brian Gibbs.
Before he became a teacher, Gibbs was an animal trainer in Hollywood for ten years. He moved to South Windsor because his son decided to live in New York City.
This is Mr. Gibbs’ first year here at SWHS being a science teacher, and while he’s still getting used to everyone, he feels welcomed and happy to be here.
“…[I] Spent my spring break last year interviewing for jobs and happened to land a good job here in South Windsor, happy to be here,” Gibbs said.
Before Gibbs started his first year teaching at the SWHS, he was a high school teacher in Snohomish, Washington at Snohomish High School. He was mostly teaching chemistry, environmental science and physical science. He had been at Snohomish for almost 20 years before he decided to make a big move across the country.
Before Snohomish High School, Gibbs taught for several years in East Los Angeles. When asked if he enjoyed his time there, Gibbs said, “Yeah, both schools had their positives, but Snohomish was just a great school.”
Snohomish High School was the school that his wife actually graduated from, and when they offered him a job, she told Gibbs to take the job because it was a really great school, and he never regretted it.
“It was a great place,” Gibbs commented.
So far, Gibbs has enjoyed his time here in South Windsor, and the staff that he’s been working with is really great and supportive.
“The students are really good, they’re starting to loosen up now; you always have to get through that first week or so where the students are on their best behavior, now they’re starting to act like people, so it’s just a lot more fun,” Gibbs told The Prowl.
He likes to interact with the students and he loves science, and that’s the whole reason that teaching is such a great position for Gibbs. This gives him an opportunity to work with kids and talk about what he loves.
Gibbs wants to impact his students by leading them out of the end of the school year with a better brain than the ones that they came in with.
“It’s all about learning, you may not remember individual facts we talk about, that’s not really the focus of everything. The focus is developing strong critical thinkers, because your brain is what you’re going to need your entire life, and if I can help students develop that, than I think I’ve had a positive impact,” Gibbs explained.
And the one last thing Gibbs had to say to The Prowl was “Go Bobcats!”
For the 2024-25 school year, there is a new addition to the South Windsor High School science department, Mr. Ashiespal Bharara.
Bharara’s parents immigrated from India to the U.S. in the nineties and he grew up in Torrington, Connecticut. After high school, he attended college at UCONN, and, at the time, didn’t have an ambition to become a teacher. It wasn’t until after he completed his master’s program that he decided teaching was going to be a good fit for him .
Outside of the classroom, you might find Bharara engaging in one of his many hobbies that he loves: going outside, hiking and traveling. In 2022, his adventurous spirit led him to fly out to Los Angeles and then drive from Los Angeles back to Connecticut. He carries this motivation and determination with him into the classroom.
“Trust yourself; you know the stuff you can do it,¨ Bharara told The Prowl. Being a first-year teacher, who isn’t that much older than the students who he teaches, makes him more relatable and helps the students get to know him better.
A hidden talent, that isn’t quite so hidden anymore, is his competitive jump roping. A small sport activity that he’s enjoyed a lot since second grade. This talent, throughout his primary and secondary education, gave him the opportunity in college to travel to California, South Africa and Sweden for national championships.
While taking notes and learning the fundamentals of chemistry isn’t fun for every student, one of his many strengths as a teacher is knowing the content really well and mixing fun aspects and activities into his lessons to make them more interesting, especially to those who aren’t science minded.
Chemistry is awesome in his opinion, but Bharara does feel that thinking about the periodic table outside of chemistry isn’t too fun, but is very much interested in breakthroughs in chemistry news that happens.
As a first year teacher, Bharara is grateful that his colleagues are extremely helpful for him. As he starts his teaching career at South Windsor High School, he feels that teachers, students and faculty are very supportive. He is excited about this school year and everything that awaits him!
