Upasana Mannur, staff writer
Class of ‘02 alumna and former English teacher of eight years Michelle Halimi

joins the administration team as the new Assistant Principal in House C.  Halimi received her Master’s in  Administration from San Diego State University prior to taking the position. In addition to being an English teacher, Halimi was the Service Learning advisor, Link Crew and WASC coordinator.
“I will always miss being in the classroom with kids, I’ll always miss that. It’s a different interaction, but I love what I am doing now. The transition was actually really easy since I had been doing a lot of administrative work then, and now I just oversee all three of the programs,” she said.
Halimi plans to focus on keeping the campus safe and to promote school spirit.
“I’m really maintaining a focus on what Toni Staser did when she was here to keep the campus safe. And also, I want to help promote students getting involved on campus and finding their place here,” Halimi said.
Halimi encourages students to participate in the various programs at school to help them find their niche and passion while in high school.
“My message to students is to just make the best of every opportunity you have here on campus. I think that kids that come to school here are so fortunate since there are so many different things they can get involved in,” Halimi said.
The Nation is the new product of the administrative team’s and senior Jackson Prince’s effort to promote school spirit by uniting the student body under one program.
“We want our school to be one where every club, every sports team and any co-curricular and extracurricular program is getting involved on campus. If they [student body] join The Nation, then we’re all really part of a big home,” Halimi said.
Halimi envisions the school uniting through the collaboration of student run academic, arts and athletic programs.
“I want students to find their passion and to do well in school at the same time. I think the hardest thing about growing up is finding a balance of what you enjoy doing and what you need to do academically. So hopefully, every student finds their place here, ” Halimi said.