It’s now semester two and Linden’s experience at school so far has been a journey.
“I think at first it [first semester] was a little chaotic. It took me a while to kinda get settled in with a lot going on. A lot of things were going on I had to learn some things, but now about halfway through I settled in and I was fine.” Linden said. “I was like ‘okay i got it’. Now it’s like ‘okay i got some things figured out, now how can i make things better’. That’s kinda where I’m at with this semester.”
As people begin to settle into the new semester, Principal Linden aspires to make improvements on the culture within Hastings High.
“Overall for the school [i want to] keep working on making this an inviting place where kids want to be. I think thats the number one goal is to have kids want to be here,” Linden said. “We want you here. I want them to want to be here.”
Linden strives for his goals, and he has already seen improvements.
“I think that has gotten better.” Linden said. “Throughout the school year that something we continue to work on.”
Despite these improvements, he still thinks that there is more work to be done.
“I think it comes down to students not feeling welcome. Teachers feeling appreciated for the job they do cus its not an easy thing to do. I just want ppl to treat each other well,” Linden said.
Linden explains his feelings on students feeling out of place at school.
“I Want to teach students to feel welcome to where they’d rather be nowhere else but school. Which sounds kinda crazy right?” Linden said. “I want this to be a place where you guys feel safe and teachers feel safe.”
He reminds students to maintain attitudes that can ensure their success throughout the year.
“Even though you may not feel like you wanna be here, having a positive attitude when you are here is important.” Linden said.
