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Staff & Students Features

The future of a Leader

by Alex Coley
Sarah Ocampo is a senior at HHIHS and has been the girls swimming team captain for two year. This year she will be graduating along with the other members of the class of 2021.
After graduation, Sarah plans on going to college and study in the medical field. She wants to focus on social and international medicine and is hoping to join the Peace Corps or a similar program. Sarah also plans to continue swimming. In her words, “[swimming has] helped me socially, to manage my time, and has helped me to become a better person.”
The swim team and swimming as a whole are such a big part of her life, she says, and she does not plan on stopping any time soon,
Swimming at States this season was the last time Sarah got to lead the Lady Seahawks swim team, and the members of the team are going to miss her. She is very happy that she got to be the captain over the last two years and is proud of the team for their performance this fall; especially with everything that has happened since the start of the year.
She says, “we did exceptionally well considering the circumstances and overall.”
It will definitely be a bittersweet moment for the team at the end of the school year.

There is a new Teacher That is Teaching BIology

by Jake Huggins
Being a new teacher is something that must bring nerves, however, Ms. Brotemarkel, she has adapted well. She teaches Biology, which might be one of the harder subjects, especially for a first-year teacher. She is mentored by Ms. Mazur while she is teaching Biology.
Her motivation to get the job is her family, as she “strives to make them proud.” She saw the job opening and decided that the worst that could happen was that she would not get the job. She has not always had her mind set on being a teacher, but decided to become one once she took a class similar to it in college. She knew she wanted to do something related to Biology/Marine Science. Her favorite part of biology is evolution, which she has always enjoyed.
She has the help of other teachers to help her settle in. This is not only her first year at high school but her first year teaching. This school year is abnormal but the ability to use technology is going to help both the students and Ms. Brotemarkel get through this school year.

Hilton hEAD iSLANDS' One of the Kind Job that Makes it One of the Best

by Jake Huggins
Hilton Head Island is lucky to have somebody with a position known as The Director of Football Operations. Coach Beachkofsky has held the position for nine years.
This position allows her to be the first point of contact between the coaches, parents, and students. It is one of the reasons that the Hilton Head Island High School Football team is successful. Coach Beachkofsky is responsible for coordinating many things relevant to the parents and players. When people have a question they go to her.
As somebody who has had the position for nine years, it is easy to understand that she likes her job. Though she claims one of the hardest things in her role is "coordinating between everyone and their daily schedules," she enjoys the ability to help out kids and their families.
Before her role as the Director of Football Operations, she was the Assistant Athletic Director. Hilton Head Island is one of the only schools to have someone with her position. Her role on the team is something no other team has in their program. With COVID-19, there were many wondering how the football season was going to turn out. Coach Beachkofsky explains that she "is very excited about her opportunity to lead the team into a new season."
Hilton Head Island High School is grateful that the school can have someone invested in the parents, students, and coaches.
Having someone be the first point of contact between staff, students, families and coaches is a unique position at HHIHS. HHIHS is different from other high schools in that other schools might have to do a lot of guessing when trying to figure out the information they need to know.

Ms. Guinn and the Return to Live Theater

by Marisa Martucci
Ms. Guinn, the theater teacher at Hilton Head High School, has given her insights into the return to live theater.
At first, Ms. Guinn gave her response as to when she would like to return to in-person rehearsals for class. “I want everyone to be safe,” she explains. She wants to return to face-to-face rehearsals as soon as school starts, as the cast for the new production is small enough to safely socially distance. “If the cast was larger, my answer would be different.” she says. Safety is her first priority when it comes to any theatre events.
Next, Ms. Guinn discusses her hopes for the future of theater. “I believe theater is needed” she begins. She explains how theater is a way to give people hope and happiness, and it helps work through big issues in a healthy and constructive way. She expresses how theater’s job and its role is to give happiness, and to provide a safe space. Ms. Guinn also believes that COVID-19 is giving theater new opportunities in the way of learning new techniques and performing new shows that would not have previously been chosen to be staged.
Ms. Guinn is most excited for her students return and the new opportunities that are being placed in front of them. Mostly, the Seahawk Theater Company will be able to compete in competitions this year and get professional feedback, which she believes will be fun and a good learning experience. She also describes how conferences with Broadway actors and actresses will be more readily available to attend, and it will give kids the ability to connect with stars they never would have been able to before with the costs being more affordable.
Ms. Guinn hopes to be back fully in-person by March 2021 for the spring show to take place. She feels sad for the seniors of 2020 who did not get to have their final high school show, and hopes this year’s seniors will get that opportunity. She is excited about the new challenges presented to her, but hopes to keep every student safe.

Teaching With the New Hybrid

by Thompson May
Teaching is one of the most important jobs in the world, but it is very difficult even in a non-Coronavirus world. Now imagine teaching in a hybrid schedule where you have to wear a mask from 8 am until 4 pm, you only see half of your kids on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half on Thursdays and Fridays, and you have to stay socially distant at all hours of the day.
Mrs. Holland is a math teacher at Hilton Head Island High School and is teaching in the hybrid format.
When Mrs. Holland was asked if it is difficult teaching in hybrid. She states, “It is difficult managing the ZOOM session for those students at home in addition to teaching the class that is in person. It is also hard to complete activities that I would normally do to reinforce concepts. I also feel like some of my students learn and perform better face-to-face than when they are learning through ZOOM at home.
Mrs. Holland believes there is a difference between the two schedules. “I think hybrid is easier for the student because they can speak to the teacher directly and ask questions one-on-one if need be. They are also present for instruction and away from things that could be distracting them at home. For the teacher, it is hard to say. For planning purposes, virtual is easier because everyone is learning through the same platform. Yet, teaching, hybrid is more effective because I can physically see the student and their body language to know whether they are understanding the material or not.”
When asked whether she preferred virtual, hybrid, or normal, she states, “I definitely like teaching the way it was before COVID–19; in-person 5 days a week. One of the best parts of my job is interacting with my students every day. However, because of the uncertainty of this disease I think hybrid is the best way to learn and teach for now."
Lastly, Mrs. Holland says there are advantages to the hybrid schedule. “The one advantage is smaller class sizes. I am used to classes of 28 or more and having half that or less 5 days a week has been nice. I find it easier to give help when needed and answer more questions that students may have.”

Back to School as a Student Athlete

by Ady O' Grady
Brooke Simons is a student senior athlete who attends Hilton Head Island High School. Brooke is in the middle of her senior volleyball season.
Brooke and her teammates are happy that their season is happening at the moment. Brooke has been a great example to others during this pandemic.
Brooke says, “virtual and face-to-face school are very different but I think the teachers have done a great job adjusting.” The teachers improved the virtual system this year. Brooke likes the online model because as a IB Diploma Candidate student, she likes working at her own pace and getting work done.
Brooke is a great student and holds great grades while playing volleyball. The season looks different so far but the volleyball girls just want to finish out their season. The Lady Seahawks are undefeated. Brooke and her team have the end goal of winning states and bringing home a ring.
The volleyball team’s practices and season look different during this pandemic. Brooke says, “we've been playing in masks at all time but we are willing to do whatever to be able to play.” The Lady Seahawks are one of the only teams who practice and play games with a mask on in order to stay protected so they can have a whole season. They have to take extra precautions during this time. Brooke and her team have been taking precautions in and out of practice. Brooke says, “we are wearing masks, following state precautions, sanitizing a lot, and social distancing.”
Brooke has been a great leader and role model in the community during this COVID-19 pandemic. Brooke, along with one of her classmates, Sam Summa, ran the “Wear a Mask Campaign.” She also promoted social distancing, wearing a mask, and other precautions on the media. Brooke ran promotions on social media, Lowco and WSAV to promote mask wearing among her age group. “ I wanted to do as much as I could to have sports seasons and to go back to school,” says Brooke.
Brooke Simons and many students are happy about the return to school, but Brooke still is promoting precautions so everyone can finish out the year with sports and school.

Mr. Heise

by Laura Payne
Q: What do you teach?Mr. Heise states, “I currently teach two ESOL classes and one World History class for ESOL students.”
Q: How long have you been teaching here?Mr. Heise moved to Hilton Head in October of 2018, he taught two long-term subbing positions for the 2018-2019 school year. “In the summer of 2019 I was hired full-time as an ESOL,” Mr. Heise says.
Q: What do you like to do outside of school?Mr. Heise responds, “I love to play soccer, tennis and table tennis, kayak, ride my bike, as well as making noise with my guitar.”
Q: What is your favorite sports team?Mr. Heise’s favorite sports team is The Columbus Crew.
Q: How did you cope during school closure?According to Mr. Heise, “Not well. I worked at my other job, attempted to learn some more Spanish, kayaked all over Skull Creek, slept, and watched way too much TV. But, what my Aunt and I did the most throughout quarantine was hone our table tennis skills on the dinner table.”
Q: What motivates you?What motivates Mr. Heise is when students are hard-working. In his words, “It’s motivating when students accomplish their goals and take pride in their work.”
Q: How do you deal with stress?Being an ESOL teacher can be stressful at times, also Mr. Heise can be a busy guy. He replies with, “I find kayaking, riding my bike and walking on the beach are the three most successful ways of relieving stress. Reading a good book and playing music are also helpful if I can’t go outside.”
Great advice from Mr. Heise.

Mr. Riker

by Laura Payne
Q: What do you teach?Mr. Riker states, “I teach all sciences :) but mostly A&P and Chemistry now.”
Q: How long have you been teaching here?“I am starting my 7th year here,” he says.
Q: What do you like to do outside of school?Mr. Riker responds, “I like to Kayak, hike, bike, yoga, beach, golf, and eat.”
Q: What is your favorite sports team?Mr. Heise’s favorite sports team is The Columbus Crew.
Q: How did you cope during school closure?During school closure, Mr. Riker coped with yoga and Netflix.
Q: What motivates you?According to Mr. Riker, “My kids, my girlfriend, and my students, oh and my pets.”

Who is Michelle Hartman?

by Collen Ott
Michelle Hartman is a 9th grade English teacher at Hilton Head Island High School.
In her interview she states, “I originally wanted to be a psychologist at a drug rehab center.” She was then told that to do so, it would take 12 more years of school. She then decided to change her major and think of a different career. She states, “ I thought about what I'm really passionate about, which is helping people and reading!” She asked her college professor about what it is like to teach and then changed her major.
Mrs. Hartman grew up on Hilton Head Island and graduated from Hilton Head Island High School. She also went to the elementary school across the street. “I had to be bussed out to Bluffton because at the time there was no middle school and the only one we could go to was out in Bluffton,” she said. A few years later, after graduating from college, she was hired by her old principal to teach.
She was also inspired by her grandmother and aunt, because they were both teachers as well. When she was younger she loved kids and states, “I babysat all the time and knew I wanted to work with kids” In the end, she worked hard and got what she wanted. She is very happy teaching at HHIHS and helping with the kids.

tHE hhihs Experience Explained By a Teacher

by Mary Elizabeth Vaccaro
Patricia Lillaheart has been teaching at the Hilton Head Island High School for five years. This semester, Mrs. Lillaheart teaches Algebra 1 Honors. She explains the pros and cons of having to teach virtually and face-to-face.
Although many changes have been made, Mrs. Lillaheart says that she tried her best to keep her classroom as normal as possible. Some of the major classroom layout changes include required face masks and separating student desks. To abide the guidelines, all desks are six feet apart. When students are in Ms. Lillaheart’s classroom, she goes around helping students with any problems they may have. Because of this, sometimes she forgets to tell the online students certain instructions or answer any questions. Mrs. Lillaheart also says that she feels like she sounds muffled with the mask on and wants her students to be able to hear her more clearly. She fears that when she is at the front of the room, the students in the back of the room are not be able to hear her.
Although there are some negatives, Mrs. Lillaheart says she likes to focus on the positives. An advantage to the hybrid system is the smaller groups. Because of that, Mrs. Lillaheart says, “there is more one-on-one help for the students which can serve as a major plus.” On Wednesdays when all students are virtual, Mrs. Lillaheart says that she thinks it is good to have all the students on Zoom to not only get them caught up, but also be all together. She says that some students may thrive at home, in a more comfortable environment. Another positive is her classroom is a lot quieter. This can help students who cannot focus in a loud classroom setting.
Mrs. Lillaheart says she “prefers interacting with her students through face-to-face learning.” Although no one truly knows what next semester will be like, Mrs. Lillaheart hopes for everything to be back to normal.

Get to Know Ms. Hudson

by Kevin Perez
The students at Hilton Head Island High School want to know who the math teacher, Ms. Hudson is.
Ms. Hudson loves to teach in a different way to help her students improve their math skills . She likes to teach in a more relatable way and give less homework so her students can learn in class and have better grades. Ms. Hudson has her students take notes so student have a test reference, and she also assists them so that they become better learners. Ms. Hudson states, “When teaching my classes, to help them learn better, I had to use different methods of instruction. This is called differentiating instruction."
There are students who learn well with notes and many examples, other students like to listen, and some are tactile learners. "I have to teach material in different ways to assist all students in my classroom" she says.
Ms. Hudson does not necessarily like giving her students tests, homework, or projects because she does not want to give her students a lot of work outside of school. As Ms. Hudson states, “I don’t necessarily like giving tests, homework, projects etc. I would rather just teach and have students participate, but students have a hard time just participating if there isn’t a test or something being graded. I give assignments to see how students are progressing and to see if they comprehend the material.”
Ms. Hudson likes to teach because she gets to know her students better and is able to help them progress. As Ms. Hudson says, “My favorite thing about teaching my classes is getting to know my students. Being able to help them with the material, and if they need anything, they can come to me for help or advice. I enjoy getting to know their personalities and seeing them grow.”
She also says she is proud when she sees her students from the past year thriving.
Ms. Hudson also agrees that hybrid learning is ok because then she can help students easier.
“I feel that bringing students back by last name is fine. I’ve looked at my classes and some days I’ll have four students and other days I might have 15. So it’s a little different with the numbers being sporadic, but the smaller class sizes will give me time to work better one-on-one with students who are struggling.”
Ms. Hudson likes to prepare her students for success and help them thrive in school.

The Principal is Proud of HHIHS

by Kevin Perez
Mr. Schidrich, the principal of Hilton Head Island High School, talks about what he thinks about the high school.
Mr. Schidrich says that he tries to do many events to make school more exciting for students like pep rallies, sporting events (like football games), and more.
Mr. Schidrich says that he is proud of the students for trying their best while e-learning during the pandemic. Mr. Schidrich states, “Because of the pandemic students are giving their all online and it might be difficult for them, but I am proud of them for trying their best.”
Mr. Schidrich is proud of all the teachers and how well they are adapting to the new changes to the school caused by the pandemic. Mr. Schidrich states, “I am proud of the teachers for how well they teach and how well they are adapting to the changes caused by the pandemic.”
Mr. Schidrich is proud of his school because of the great job his students are doing. Mr. Schidrich is also proud of the teachers at the high school for doing a great job teaching and helping their students.
Mr. Schidrich also wants to do more fun activities for the school, but currently, the pandemic is stopping him from doing it because of social distancing.

The Nurse & COVID-19

by Lia Piccioli
What does Hilton Head Island High School do to help COVID-19?
Nurse Amy, the nurse at HHIHS, was a nurse at the hospital and worked in most nursing fields. Nurse Amy, states that students will be sent home if they have the following symptoms: fever, nausea, and other COVID-19 like symptoms.
If the fever is higher than 100.4 the student will be sent home. If students exhibit other COVID-19 symptoms like, loss of taste, smell, shortness of breath, and new cough, they will need to be tested; and if they test negative they can come back, but if they test positive they need to quarantine for 10 days.
The virus has changed how the nurse's office is run this school year. Students cannot come to the nurse’s office for minor complaints and she has to look more closely when people have headaches, sore throats, etc.
Nurse Amy states, “I feel truly lucky to be the nurse at HHIHS, you are all a wonderful group of students.”

Ms. Lilaheart

by Brandon Rosas Pelaez
Q: How are you planning to run class when Face to Face starts?I am planning to Zoom with my students at home while I am running the class for students sitting in my room. I will do both at the same time.
Q: How are you doing with E-Learning? And do you prefer Face to Face or online?E-learning will be the same all semester. I Zoom with them at the beginning of class and we work on anything they want.
Q: How are you planning to run Math events?I don’t think we can do Math Events like Barbie Bungee, because students have to be too close together.
Q: What did you do during quarantine?During quarantine, I spent time reading, cooking, walking, and hanging out with family! I also took a trip to Montana!
Q: So far, from a 1 to 10 how do you think your class is? Are your students bad? Half and half? All good kids?I seriously have all good kids this time around. They all Zoom every single day! So, a 10.
Q: Since I had you 2 year ago, have any of your rules changed? How do you run the class now?Rules, well I’m not doing special Fridays. I'm not sure that it really helped students behave better. We also do more work in groups at the boards, but not with COVID-19 rules.

A Talk With the Teacher bEHIND THE Camera

by Sophia Weismantel
Mrs. Schoelkopf-Lewis, the photography teacher at Hilton Head Island High School, was interviewed about where her love for photography began, and how it became a part of her career.
When asked how long she had been teaching photography, Mrs. Schoelkopf responds, “It’s been 24 years, and it’s funny because I’ll always catch myself asking, ‘Where has time gone?’”
Mrs. Schoelkopf-Lewis has always had a love for the arts, even in high school, but did not start studying photography until college. “I owned a small camera,” she stated, “but photography was more of the technical arts and I wasn’t very interested in that in high school.”
Mrs. Schoelkopf-Lewis went to Maryland Institute of Art for her first year of college, but then transferred to Millersville University for the rest of her college career.
“My goal was to apply to John's Hopkins in my Junior year for the joint Biological Illustration between MICA & JH. They only accepted 5 students a year for this program, so I wasn't confident that I would make the cut for this high level masters program."
She was so much happier at Millersville University.
“I started (photography) my second year, and never left the dark room.” When asked what classes she took during her college years, Mrs. Schoelkopf-Lewis states, ”I feel like I took every photography class I could.” She took classes such as color photography, large format, biological photography, alternative process, etc., as well as taking a materials and process class in community college at the same time.
Mrs. Schoelkopf-Lewis also has a favorite part of teaching photography. She says, “I definitely love the dark room, it’s what got me into photography in the first place.
She says not only does she love the dark room, but so do her students. “I think when they’re learning the technical side of photography, they forget about how amazing the scientific side can be. They get a better understanding in the dark room, teaching it digitally just isn’t enough.” Mrs. Schoelkopf-Lewis finished her thought by stating how seeing the picture appear was always her favorite part of the dark room, stating, “Seeing the picture come to life in that one-and-a-half minute, it’s like magic.”
Mrs. Schoelkopf-Lewis still gets to enjoy the exciting element of photography everyday when she teaches her students.

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