The move from teaching to being an administrator

Karen Danner, Staff Writer

In the past couple of years, some teachers have transferred from being teachers to being administrative figures within the building.

While they don’t spend as much time with students in class, they still feel like they have a large influence on what happens around the building. Assistant Principal Seth Taboh said that while he has less of a daily connection with students, he has a larger affect on the student body.

“The best part of leaving teaching is that I’m able to have a positive impact on the place I call home,” Taboh stated.

Taboh transferred from White Lake Middle School where he taught math, science and theater along with being the Dean of Students, to Milford High School where he could be an assistant principal, after six years of teaching.

Shawn Durso, MHS Dean of Students, had been teaching at Milford for the last thirteen years until she transferred into her new role at the end of last Aug.

“I hate that I don’t know all of the students as well as I did when I had them in the classroom,” said Durso. “When my students walked into the room, I got to know what made them tick. I got to know if they were having a good day or a bad day, just on their body language. We had inside jokes for each hour and they knew that when they walked into the room, they’d learn more about themselves from what I taught them.”

While she misses getting to really know her students, Durso loves that her job is not only challenging but she’s able to have an impact on a larger amount of students.

“Maybe they don’t see it, but there’s so much behind the scene things that we do for them. And most of the time, it’s to make sure that they can be the best that they can be,” Durso added. “All that I want is for our students to succeed. If that means that I have to be ‘the bad guy,’ then so be it.”

Most of the administration agreed that they never knew what to expect when they show up for work, but making sure that the student body could be the best they could be, was reward enough for whatever the day would bring.