"She is always willing to help," said sophomore Mandy Hammack of Pomona High School's Amanda Wolf, one of three teachers who signed a continuing contract in August. Last year, these teachers were only signed for one year at Pomona, but now are all promised a more permanent position at Pomona.

Ex-police officer Jim Hendry and former Longmont High School art teacher Kim McGrath are also now "continuing" teachers.

Wolf explained the reason she decided to teach is because she wants to help kids. She said she knows that most kids don't like math, and she wants to help them understand it better.

Junior Emmy Brundage believes Wolf is successful in her mission. After having her for first semester last year, Brundage said, "Miss Wolf is an awesome teacher, and I really had fun in her class."

One of Wolf's favorite memories from Pomona so far was when the staff got "one full breakfast on Monday mornings for summer school, kind of as an initiative to get up on Monday."

When recalling memories of last year, Wolf remembers a time when she "told a kid to shut up. He told me he didn't think it was appropriate that I was saying that to students, so I apologized to him. The next day I heard him saying that to one of his friends, and I said to him, 'If I can't say it, then I don't think it's fair that you can!'"

Hendry, another teacher with a new "continuing" contract, had quite an interesting line of careers before coming to Pomona. He was a policeman for 16 years, worked as a chauffeur, and also worked delivering bread for a period of time.

Hendry explained that he finally decided to teach because of his work as a police officer. He spent three and a half years as a "classroom cop" and really liked doing that line of work. After he got hurt in the line of duty, he decided to go into teaching because he liked the whole classroom setting and the bond that is developed over time with students.

"Mr. Hendry rocks," said senior Tim Patton of Hendry after a semester of World History with him last spring.

Hendry says he likes Pomona more than any other Jefferson County school, and he speaks from experience since he has been a substitute at almost every school in Jeffco, including Pomona. He feels that everyone at PHS works as a team, and there is less tension here than other schools. He stated that in some schools the tension can be felt immediately between the "cliques" in the school, but Pomona doesn't have that problem.

Another person you may recognize as a second year teacher at Pomona is Kim McGrath. Before coming to Pomona, McGrath taught at Longmont High School for three years. She taught many of the same classes as she does now, but she taught photography for the first time last year at Pomona. The classes she currently teaches consist of ceramics, which is her favorite of all the different classes, jewelry, and photography.

The reason McGrath decided to teach is because she thinks that high school students have a lot to say, but few will take time to listen to teenagers. "Art is about expression and what you have to say," she explained. Art is something she sees as an effective way to make student expressions important.

"You're under 18, so you don't get to say anything" is what McGrath feels is the attitude of most adults. She wants to give kids a chance to speak through their art and make themselves heard.

McGrath said she had a lot of fun last year at Pomona. One of her favorite memories is "eating unhealthy snacks with Mr. Winegar." She stated that she is sad that Winegar isn't here anymore. "I miss him. He was my giggle factor." Larry Winegar was one of five experienced teachers who retired at the end of the end of last year.

Junior Rachael Roberts summarized her semester in jewelry class with McGrath by saying, "Ms. McGrath made jewelry a fun experience even though I didn't know what I was doing."