Many changes have taken place at Holy Trinity Catholic Junior/Senior High School over the summer.
The school began by saying goodbye to Doris Turner, who retired after being chief administrative officer for six years, and quickly welcomed Richard Facciolo as the new CAO and principal at the junior/senior high building.
Facciolo brings a wealth of experience in Catholic school administration. He has served as superintendent of Bishop Hoffman Catholic Schools in Fremont, Ohio, president of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, and chancellor, chief administrative officer and vicar for education for the Diocese of Las Vegas. Holy Trinity is pleased to have an administrator of this caliber leading HTC into the future.
New to the building, but not new to Holy Trinity, is Melissa Palmer. She has taught at HTC Elementary for the past five years and is now teaching math 7 and 8 as well as science 7 and 8. Palmer was excited for this year to begin, which was quite apparent when talking with her. “Knowing the students already made my first few days in a new building so much easier and more enjoyable,” she said. She also said she is “looking forward to being a part of Science Fair, Student Council and everything else new that comes with junior high!”
Verla Tanner is new to the junior/senior building but is a veteran teacher, having taught for multiple years in the Keokuk and Fort Madison school districts. Tanner will be teaching Algebra I and II this year. Sophomore Ben Votroubek said he enjoys Algebra II so far. “I like the way Mrs. Tanner teaches. She is very exciting and lively — she explains things in an easy to understand way. She is a good teacher who really cares about her kids.”
Students Alisha Saathoff, Claire Dupuis and Tyler Delaney all admitted to being apprehensive about the upcoming year, but were relieved after being in Tanner’s classes. “Up beat,” “interesting” and enjoyable” were terms the teacher’s students used to describe how the year was going so far.
