At the beginning of second semester, art teacher Adam Kroeker joined the staff. 

Kroeker had past experiences, which made it easier to become an Oriole.

“I was a student, so it was kind of like coming back home,” Kroeker said.

After Kroeker graduated from Augusta in 2017, he studied at Bethel College to become an art teacher. 

Since Kroeker graduated from Augusta, he knew a lot about the school

“I knew the building really well,” Kroeker said. “I knew a lot of the teachers; there are some new faces, but I knew a lot of them from when I was here.” 

Even though the teachers are familiar to Kroeker, the students are not. Freshman Maeve Fleming thinks that students will benefit since he is a young teacher.

“I feel like he will connect with us a lot more, and he seems super organized,” Fleming said. 

Kroeker agrees with wanting to build relationships with students.

“I want to get to know the students more,” Kroeker said. “Learn not just the students that are in my classes, but also just in the building as a whole.”

 By joining the staff this late in the year,  students already had a connection to long-term substitute Connor Spellman, but are excited to be with Kroeker.

“I really liked Mr. Spellman,” freshman Austin Winter said, “but at the same time Spellman and Kroeker are pretty identical.”