New assistant principal making impact
BHS class of 2005 graduate Kelli Haeffner has returned to the Baldwin City school district as the new vice principal. She is known for her fun and energetic personality when saying hello to students every morning.
“You can definitely tell she was a cheerleader because every morning she has so much energy even though we don’t always match it,” sophomore Emily Howarter said.
“The way she greets everybody at the beginning of the day always betters my mood,” junior Samantha Scraper said.
Haeffner was a cheerleader when she was in high school, but she was also an editor of the yearbook.
“My favorite class was Journalism, so I was one of the yearbook editors, it was a fun class. Also Mr. Harris was a great teacher and still is,” Haeffner said.
Although journalism was her favorite class, one very important teacher made a huge impact on her.
“Mr. Curran was my favorite teacher. Mr. Curran is the reason I was able to pass, because I spent every morning and afternoon with him working on Geometry,” Haeffner said.
“She was a very hard worker, she was in before school and after school a lot, she compensated for maybe her lack of talent for getting in here and working hard,” Mike Curran said. “A lot of the reason the whole feeling of the building is a lot better than last year is because of the things she’s doing.”
Even though Haeffner has not been a part of the Baldwin school district before, she has been a part of several other school districts.
“Getting to see the impact of kids I’ve had at DeSoto, and students in Blue Valley, it just made me really want and desire that for my community that I’m raising my kids in,” Haeffner said.
She’s excited to make an impact, but also thrilled for things to go back to normal from Covid.
“I think because of the past three years of every school in America going through a pandemic, there are things naturally that we just pushed to the wayside, I would really like to get back to the basics,” Haeffner said. “I’m pretty big on school spirit and that pride in your community and giving back to your community.”
