Oak Park introduced two new members to the faculty at the start of the new semester: Alex Allison and Jane Prochazka.

After working as a student teacher for English teacher Caitlin Fowler, Allison was asked to return as the new journalism teacher.

Prochazka is a friend of math teacher Robin Midiri. Prochazka used to teach at Calabasas High School and now teaches Geometry and Algebra II at Oak Park.

“When Mrs. Fowler asked me to take over journalism, I felt relief. A big hug. Happiness,” Allison wrote in an email. “And my experience thus far has continued to gift me.”

Jane Prochazka also shared what this opportunity means to her.

“I felt honored to be given the opportunity to teach at Oak Park High School,” Prochazka said, noting her favorite parts about the job thus far are “the students’ attitudes and the respect from the students, as well as the other faculty members.”

Both teachers said they enjoy multiple aspects of their subjects, and of teaching at Oak Park.

“I adore journalism class because it creates space for students to play, discover, choose, debate, and enact change,” Allison said.

Students wonder whether or not these new teachers will teach any other classes in the future. Prochazka said she is “very happy” with her current courses, and Allison wrote she would like to expand her class load to include “more journalism classes, perhaps a creative writing class, and, some day, either a dystopian fiction class or a Middle Eastern literature class.

And perhaps she will.

“It is possible that they could teach more classes next year but if that were the case we would have to advertise the position and open it up to anybody that wished to apply,” Vice Principal Bryan Martin wrote in an email.

The opportunity could lighten the load of several teachers who currently teach six classes—without a prep period.

“In general, I think adding two new teachers can’t be a problem since we had teachers working more than they should,” senior Carly Albert said. “With these new teachers, it’s all spread out more.”