Recently Dan Paradis has been hired as the new connections teacher to replace Andy Meeker, who is now working as a guidance counselor. An interview committee consisting of Elizabeth Wood, the Guidance Director; Andy Meeker, the previous connections teacher; and Diana Bonneville, the school’s principal, searched through a pool of applicants and Paradis stood out. Bonneville noted “He’s very energized and passionate about what he does, and was looking to help the program grow which was exactly what we were looking for.”

Before his job at South Hadley High School, Paradis was a regional sales director for pharmaceuticals. Paradis explained that “the money was amazing but I didn’t feel like I was in a position where I loved my career, so I decided to make a switch.” Students will be able to understand the struggles of finding the right job, and Paradis will be able to give accurate advice based on his personal experience with changing careers in order to follow his passion.

Paradis plans to bring new teaching ideas like “flip learning” to make sure students absorb all the information and can take away as much as possible. “Flip learning” is when a whole group of students work on assignments together and would be graded on attendance and participation.

Along with teaching connections, Paradis will be teaching a college readiness class. He is excited about this opportunity and says “I think it will be a lot of fun. To start out I’ll have students go on Masscis to do a personality test which pull out interests you may have so that students can gain a better idea of what they want to do for a career and after leaving high school.”