Darrell Turner is a new member to the Aragon staff.
Aragon welcomed Darrell Turner as dean and history teacher this year.
“My job is to ensure that students [who] have a mishap or situation such as truancy or some kind of situation on campus, stay on track [so] they graduate [and] become successful at Aragon,” Turner said.
Turner decided to move to Aragon to grow as an individual.
“I wanted to continue on the path of education to elevate, eventually, the administration,” Turner said. “Aragon’s a top 500 high school in America. Although I liked my last position, [the] opportunity to grow is present at Aragon.”
Previously, Turner was a social sciences teacher at Sequoia High School. Before he was a teacher, Turner was a coach and a member of the military. Coaching inspired Turner to become a teacher.
“I really liked coaching because I saw a part of myself [in] several of the students,” Turner said, “and the demographic of where I coached was similar to whereI grew up. I liked that interaction and [feeling] like you really made an impact that was meaningful.”
Turner wants to change the perceived adversarial relationship between the dean and the student by being approachable.
“In any position that deals with people, it’s important to build relationships. I’m not here [to] hammer [and] discipline people,” Turner said. “I’m here to build relationships to find out what’s at the root of the situation and be able to offer support and different avenues for success.”
Junior Samuel Pappas met Turner during a Link Crew scavenger hunt and found him amiable.
“On our [link crew] scavenger hunt we had to take a photo with him and he was willing to do it,” Pappas said. “He was fun and friendly to us.”
Sophomore Miles King, a student of Turner, is not bothered by the fact that his teacher is the dean of Aragon. King sees it as a benefit having Turner work as a teacher along with being the dean.
“Assuming that the workload of being a teacher doesn’t restrict his ability to be the dean,” King said, “[Turner’s] students [benefit from him being their teacher and dean] because they would know the dean more personally.”
History teacher William Colglazier believes Turner is fit for the position of dean.
“I was really drawn to Mr. Turner’s authenticity,” Colglazier said. “[I] appreciated his perspective on what it means to be a teacher about making personal connections with students. He seemed like he could make those connections.”
During his first weeks on the job, Turner embraced hisrole as dean making connections amongst students and faculty.
“Perseverance [is my best trait] to find out the root of issues to support people to grow,” Turner said.
