About $76,000 is a rough estimate for what the cost of adding a health class and teaching position at Triton would be. With the budget currently being in such bad shape, this task is seemingly impossible.

A health teacher at Triton High School would teach the students the physical, social, and emotional aspects of dealing with being an adolescent as well as  the everyday decisions that come with being a teenager.

The health teacher’s goal would be to influence students into making better decisions by teaching and sharing information with students about topics regarding smoking, vaping, alcohol, sex, working out, eating right, etc.

“It would be really cool if we had a health teacher at Triton. I think I could learn a lot of valuable things from the class that I would use every day,” said junior Anthony Particelli.

In an interview with Principal Tim Ruggere, he shared that he feels it is important to have a health teacher because “If students were better informed on the decisions they were making, they might not make them. For instance vaping, some students believe it is not bad for you, but actually it is 10 times worse for you than cigarette smoke,”  said Ruggere.

Senior Julia Cordeau states “ I think it would be very valuable to have a health teacher at Triton. I usually don’t make the best choices when it comes to eating, I kind of  just eat whatever I want, but if we had a health teacher who shared important eating habits I think I would definitely use that information,” said Coredau.

Mrs. Kathryn Dawe spent time working on this project when she was principal, and when Mr. Ruggere became principal the project got passed to him, and he has been working on it ever since.

“We put it in the budget this year, as well as last year too because we needed a health teacher. It’s just what Ms. Dawe passed down to me when I became the principal,” Ruggere stated.

Although both current and former principals believe a health teacher is an important position to have at Triton, “It just always seems that the budget can’t handle health teachers,” said Ruggere.

Remaining hopeful Ruggere tried again to get the position at Triton he told the Triton Voice. “I put it in again this year. However, it looks like we have some budget constraints this year that are pretty tight too so I don’t think we will be having a health teacher.”

“We’re not as in good of shape this year as we were last year. I try and stay positive and hope that the state is willing to help us out. It’s $76,000 as a rough estimate as a health teacher profession. You have to figure in salary plus the other benefits that go along with it.” said Ruggere. This high cost is what makes getting a health teacher seemingly impossible due to all of the budget cuts and current financial state Triton has been facing recently.  

Gym teacher Donna Andersen believes that having knowledge about health is important to high school students. With that being said, she is under the impression that it should be mandatory for a health class to take place at Triton.

When asked by the Triton Voice if she gives any students in her classes information regarding health, she states that she tries to do her best to give tips when asked questions regarding one’s personal well-being.

“In The sophomore fitness/health class, I certainly do.  In the other elective PE classes, often times health topics arise organically, and I am always very willing to give my two cents worth of information,” Andersen said.

As Andersen stated she is capable of being a health teacher at the high school due to her certification in Physical Education/Health. She also discussed that knowing the concept or gist of the healthiness of oneself is very important. “ I do believe that knowledge and understanding about health issues is a great motivator to live a more healthy lifestyle,” Andersen said.

Senior Sofie Desimone; a former player for Coach Anderson, said, “ Being a part of Ms. Andersen’s field hockey team, I learned a lot about health because she incorporated it into the sport. Learning the concepts and basics of health changed my whole lifestyle and was so valuable, so I think everyone at school should also have the ability to learn the same basics,” said Desimone.

Senior Mackenzie Silverstein shared that she also learned important information from Ms. Andersen when she took her Fitness/Health during her class sophomore year, and said, “ I wish that there was an option to take a health class for a PE class junior or senior year, because I definitely would’ve taken it since I used a lot of what Ms. A taught me in my fitness/health class sophomore year,” said Silverstein.

Although there is no decision yet, with a health teacher being in the budget last year and not being approved, and the budget tighter this year, getting a health teacher/class does not look promising. If students have questions they can ask Ms. Andersen for advice and tips, or take her class sophomore year, but having a class solely for health seems to be a project that will take more time.