Granite Bay High has welcomed a plethora of new staff members to its administration and various academic departments.

Five new teachers, two new staff members and one previous staff member serving in a new position were in place for the start of the new school year.

The new teaching staff join the Math, English and Spanish departments, bringing their individual styles to the school.

One of those teachers, Tyler Jaynes, is also a GBHS graduate.

 “I just got my Master’s Degree, so sometimes a nice fresh set of eyes is good when you’re looking at a system that’s been here for a little bit,” said Jaynes, who is teaching Integrated Math 2 and will coach boys’ volleyball. “Hopefully, I can offer a different perspective than what is already here.”

Jaynes graduated from GBHS 10 years ago. After teaching at Mary Star of the Sea High School in Los Angeles, Jaynes decided to return to Granite Bay and settle down with his growing family.

“My wife and I just had a kid, and living in L.A. is hard with a newborn … it’s expensive, and stuff up here is a little bit cheaper, maybe a little bit slower-paced,” Jaynes said.

Jaynes’ enthusiasm to be back in the community is reflected in his work ethic and dedication to teaching math effectively.

“Mr. Jaynes likes to help the students a lot and make sure everybody understands,” said Shelby Acker, a junior who is a student in one of Jaynes’ classes.

Being a new teacher, although exciting, can be nerve-racking at times. Getting used to a different system, according to Jaynes, is the most challenging part.

“Every school has its own way of running things, whether it be grade books or different policies, how to interact with students (or) just the different community they want to make at this school,” Jaynes said. “I’m coming from a completely different system, so (I’m) just trying to learn all those rules as we go.”  

Jaynes has an advantage learning the system because he has experienced it first hand as a student. But he is not the only example of a homecoming staff member.

Stephanie May, who grew up in the district, is one of the school’s newest English teachers. Having served as a student teacher under Kay Bacharach and David Tastor last spring, May’s transition into a full-time teaching position was decidedly easier.

“I lucked out in that I don’t have a lot of the challenges that someone else might in meeting staff members and meeting students, just because I was here already,” May said. “It is an ideal situation for me to be here at Granite Bay.”

The only difficulty, May said, was deciding how to organize her room, a task irrelevant to her before as a student teacher.

For May, any challenges that accompany her new title are overshadowed by her drive to educate. Helping others is a quality she has possessed ever since childhood.

“I’ve worked with students even back when I was a little kid,” May said. “I used to volunteer in classrooms for younger children, and I continued to do that all throughout high school and college as well.”

As two teachers familiar with the school join the staff, students also welcome completely new faces. Grant Adams is GBHS’ newest Spanish teacher. This year, Jennifer Hill begins her role as the new AP coordinator, stepping down from teaching AP Spanish. This transition opened up a position in the Spanish department for Adams.

“Ever since (my wife and I) made the decision to move to this area, I’ve had my eye on this school,” Grant said. “And once that window of opportunity opened, I jumped into it.”

Grant spends first and second period teaching at Oakmont High School – he commutes to GBHS for fourth period.

Commuting from Oakmont to Granite Bay might seem like a hassle, but compared to driving an hour to Elk Grove as he did in previous years, Adams said his 15-minute commute to GBHS does not even compare.

Like other new staff members and teachers who joined only a couple of years ago, Adams is proud to be at GBHS and hopes he can continue to influence students for many years to come.

“I’m hoping I can be a Grizzly for the rest of my career,” Adams said. “Cross your fingers.”