After the departure of vice principal Mr. Jere Kubuske, the school has taken a different approach to fulfill his duties. This new group is called the Student Innovation Team, more commonly referred to as the SIT.

The coalition is led by both Principal Mr. Dave Worland and Vice Principal Ms. Kathy Saum. The team is then split into five sections, known as pieces of the pie, which include the teacher/team members Mr. Ed Freije ’99, Mr. Eric Bruns and Mr. Adam Barth, Ms. Katie Lewis, Mr. Aundrey Wright and Mr. Anthony Ernst. They form the basis for the SIT as each of them specializes in certain areas and are required to handle certain responsibilities with their new titles.

Biology teacher Dr. Aarti Brooks acts as the organizer for the SIT, managing the duties and directing the processes of the team.

Lewis, the spiritual director of the SIT and a theology teacher, explained the importance of the new system put in place to fill the void that Kubuske left. She described how Kubuske’s role, with all of his duties, could sometimes seem impossible to keep up with, so the SIT was created to keep up with all of the responsibilities that had been previously been handled by Kubuske.

Lewis’s role within the SIT is centered around the spiritual aspects of the school, which includes activities such as retreats and Mass. She added that she also helped with the blood drive and is soon hoping to work with the school’s marketing department to introduce student voice into a lot of the decisions made on campus.

Others administrators such as Lewis had to go through an interview process to be named as a member of SIT. “During that interview process, (the administration) asked us which attribute in our mission statement we felt most called to, and interestingly enough we all got the one that we said, “ Lewis added.

Lewis noted that the SIT is vital for the school as it hopes to provide the best programming and services for all students.

When asked about the team’s goals for this year, Lewis had a one-word answer: “Survive.” She said she believes this will certainly be a transition year as most of the teachers may not be completely sure of all their various duties. 

This change also coincides with the school doing away with traditional department chairs, which have been replaced by the Academic Innovation Team (AIT). 

Lewis added that her new position requires her to spend her C period in the Student Services Suite, and that most of the other team leaders have other specific responsibilities that they must attend to since they have taken on this new role.

If you have a question that would have previously been for Kubuske, make sure to stop in to the Student Services Suite, and mostly likely one of the SIT members will be there to assist you. “You can go to any of us, and we will make sure your question is answered,” Lewis said.