Dominic Farabaugh

Special education teacher Dominic Farabaugh has also joined the school staff this year. He co-teaches two English classes as a learning support teacher.

Farabaugh attended Thiel College and at first, his focus was early childhood development, but he shifted to special education.

“In my sophomore year, I had some health issues that derailed my original plans. I admired the teachers in my life and decided to go into teaching. I wanted to help kids feel better about themselves,” Farabaugh said.

Like many other teachers, this year is not ideal for Farabaugh.

“It’s so difficult to connect with students and get to know them and their personalities. I like to get to know my students as individuals- as people. I like to make a connection with them and show them that they all have differences but we are all a family, and that is so difficult to do online,” Farabaugh said.

Although this year isn’t what Farabaugh had planned this year being like, there have been some positives.

“I’ve really enjoyed the administration, they are very nice and treat everyone with respect. They’ve been supportive of me and my mentor is awesome. They’ve helped me with any questions I’ve had and have also been incredibly supportive of me. I was fresh out of college so I was applying anywhere with a job opening. I was very excited to be offered a job here. I grew up coming here for sports games and overall I’m excited to be part of the community,” Farabaugh said.