Jonathan Law has opened its doors to several new staff members in a variety of subjects this year.

Here are some short bios of the new staff:

By Owen Paiva – Entertainment Editor

Ms. Corriveau is Law’s new Computer Science teacher.

Before teaching at Law, Corriveau taught for four years at Ridgefield High School, and before that worked at Sikorsky Aircraft for seven years.

However, she is no stranger to Jonathan Law.

“I am a Law grad, and it feels familiar and new at the same time,” Corriveau said.

Corriveau is teaching four classes this year: AP Computer Science Principles, 3D Modeling and Animation, Computers, Electronics, and Programming, and Intro to Computer Science.

She wants to help her AP Computer Science Principles students be prepared for the exam.

“I want to make sure my AP kids do really well on the exam,” Corriveau said. “This is the first year the class is being offered and I want to start off with a bang.”

Corriveau wants to increase the number of students taking Intro to Computer Science, which is offered second semester.

By Nisali Fernando – Entertainment Editor

Mr. Giangregorio, better known as Mr. G., is the new English teacher at Jonathan Law.

He is teaching three sections of freshman English and is co-teaching English 2 with Mr. Kulenych.

Giangregorio, a Shelton native, taught at a school in Colchester, Vermont, prior to his work at Law. This past summer, he spent six weeks in Italy, teaching English to locals ages 16 to 60.

He has high hopes for his students both academically and socially.

“My goal is for them to be able to express themselves in writing and in speaking so they can succeed throughout high school and especially after high school,” Giangregorio said. “I want them to do their best to engage in the text that we work with and to really be open and curious to these new ideas.”

Immediately, he felt at home within the Law community, and was welcomed with open arms.

“From the day that I first met all the teachers and my colleagues, everyone has been incredibly friendly and helpful,” Giangregorio said. “That just made my transition so much easier because it has been really nice getting to know really good people.”

Giangregorio spends most of his free time in his favorite state, Vermont. He is an avid soccer fan and in his free time he likes to snowboard, read, watch movies, and spend time with family and friends.

He is determined to teach his students the importance of listening to the stories of others and being able to create a story of their own.

“Think about where you fit in and who you are, just like what you like and enjoy what you enjoy,” Giangregorio said.

By Maeve Rourke – Sports Editor

This year, Law welcomes new music teacher, Ms. Jones.

Jones has spent her last five years teaching music at Harborside Middle School. She has also taught in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. This year she is teaching three selections of chorus, Music Technology, Vocal Performance Techniques, Piano 2, and Peer Assisted Music.

She is very excited to see all her students be successful this year, and is avid on helping them find happiness in everything they do.

“I hope that my students find passion in all that they do and find value in their role in the classroom,” Jones said.

In her free time, Jones likes to do anything that keeps her active and laughing, such as water skiing.

Jones is also very happy to be at Law.

“I love the camaraderie that the teachers and students alike have with each other to create an atmosphere that makes you want to be more involved,” Jones said.

By Kristin Frank – Sports Editor

A Jonathan Law alum finds himself walking down the same halls as he did when he was a student, but now he’s walking down them as a history teacher.

Mr. Cinar is a proud new member of Law’s staff. He truly feels welcomed as a new teacher and is becoming more comfortable as the weeks go by.

“I graduated in 2007,” Cinar said. “During my time as a student I was able to create some great relationships with my teachers, which I am very fond of to this day.”

This is Cinar’s very first year teaching. He is a recent graduate that attended the University of Connecticut and received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree.

Prior to teaching at Law, Cinar had completed a student-teaching job at West Haven High School.

“I believe that my time as a student at Law had a significant part in molding me to become the person I am today,” Cinar said. “I chose to work at Law because I want to give back to the school that helped me so much as an adolescent.”

Cinar is very passionate about his job and strives to make an everlasting influence on his students.

“I want to use my prior experiences to help my students and hopefully make a positive impact in their lives,” Cinar said.

Being a new teacher, Cinar cannot help but shows his excitement in the classroom.

“I am most excited about the opportunity to see myself and my students grow,” Cinar said. “ As I’ve said before, this is my first year teaching, with my own students.”

Cinar is also thrilled about making real world connections with his students and help prepare them for today’s world.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to teach my students about our country’s past and help them make connections to what is happening today,” Cinar said.

Like many other teachers at Law, Cinar teaches both here and at Foran High School.

“At Foran, I teach two classes of Modern World History to freshmen and one class of Global Geography and Cultures to mixed upperclassmen,” Cinar said.

As for Law, Cinar teaches two classes of Survey of the 20th Century U.S. to sophomores.

Since school started, Cinar set goals for for both his students as well as himself.

“My goals for my students rise out of their needs,” Cinar said. “ I like to spend time on pre-assessments, where I gauge my students understandings of a certain content and their skills in the classroom.”

Cinar has already picked up on what his students need to improve on in class.

“What I noticed from my classes is that I need to put emphasis on improving their literacy skills, reading and writing at an appropriate level,” Cinar said.

Cinar also has a goal to improve their communication skills. He believes it’s important for students to speak well and clearly.

He plans on doing this by signing assignments where he will ask them to present and work in groups.

“History has always been my favorite subject,” Cinar said. “I like the whole idea of being able to analyze, interpret, and make your own conclusions.”

Cinar also went on to explain that studying historical tends to lead a person to look at a historical event or study a historical person through multiple perspectives. In addition, studying history makes a person more aware of their surroundings and the world they live in.

“It is because of these traits, I wanted to teach and like teaching history,” Cinar said.

Cinar has some personal goals for himself as well.

“My goal for myself, especially as a first year teacher is to, simply put….survive,” Cinar said. “What I mean by that is, I don’t want my inexperience to smother or overwhelm me.”

Cinar also wants to become a better and more efficient planner, be more organized, be more attentive to my students’ needs, be more involved with after clubs and sports, become a helpful coworker/ colleague, and have a role being a mentor of some sort in his students’ lives.

Cinar mentions that his experience teaching at Law has been a positive one.

“My experience so far at Law has been great,” Cinar said. “I’ve seen some of my teachers when I was a student, it felt great to see them go out of their way to welcome me and say hello.”

Cinar said that his favorite subject to teach is the Cold War.

“I really like the idea of how there were two mega powers basically playing a game of risk with the entire world,” Cinar said. “I believe teaching about the Cold War just naturally leads to great and different amounts of assessments, activities, etc.”

Overall, Cinar’s experience so far at Law has been enjoyable.

“I have felt welcomed by the students and faculty at Law,” Cinar said. “The faculty for the social studies department has been extremely helpful.”

The teachers here offer Cinar help whenever he may need it.

“I truly do appreciate the fact that whenever I have a question or concern, I can easily walk into any of their rooms and get what i need from them,” Cinar said.

Cinar is very pleased with his students he has for his first year of teaching.

“My students have been great to work with,” Cinar said. “They have shown interest in the topics we have discussed so far.”