ASB advisor Sheri Rotondi resigns

In light of Sherie Rotondi’s resignation, English teacher Sarah Paulis will be taking over as interim ASB advisor and activities director at Samo for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. Rotondi submitted her resignation on Oct. 11, and her last day was on Oct. 25. Paulis joined the Samo family last year as an English 9 and English 10 teacher, and has recently started coaching the frosh/soph girls’ soccer team this year. Paulis has been teaching for seven years and has enjoyed helping students in improving their writing, reading and communication skills. However, Paulis will be resigning from all of her English classes and continuing as activities director in November. Paulis will be replaced by Rebekah Robinson, who has currently been serving as a long term substitute for Stephanie Dew.  As the vacancy for the Student Activities Director opened during the school year, the position needed to be filled immediately, which is why Paulis will be unable to complete the semester with her current english classes. Excited to take on a new challenge and grow, Paulis will use this year to decide whether or not she will permanently hold this position. Paulis is excited regarding the opportunity for increased involvement with Samo students.  “There are so many activities for the students at Samohi, and I’m thrilled to be able to support student’s educational experiences outside the classroom...Working with students has always been my favorite part of the job, so I’m glad I will now be able to work with all students at Samohi,” Paulis said of the students Rotondi has grown so fond of.  Rotondi has been part of the Samo family for almost three years and will greatly miss her ASB students. “My favorite thing about Samo is the 2019-2020 ASB kids. They are my other kids and I love them,” Rotondi said. Despite her love for the students, Rotondi was offered a job she could not refuse, prompting her departure from Samo. Upon receiving her resignation, S House principal Hector Medrano had been charged with the search for a replacement for the Student Activities Director and teacher of fourth period ASB. Principal Antonio Shelton posed the position to the staff at Samo and gave them a week to decide whether or not they would be interested in temporarily replacing Rotondi until decisions regarding permanent replacement are made at the end of the school year. Normally the ASB Executive Board would have interviewed applicants for the position of ASB advisor. However, due to the short notice and urgency of getting an advisor, the ASB Executive Board did not conduct any interviews. Shelton hopes that this transition will go smoothly for all students involved.  “As an interim I am hoping we can maintain some consistency within ASB and continue in the same direction that we have been going with our ASB and Student Activities,” Shelton said. Though she will miss Rotondi, ASB member Noa Goldsmith (’20) is confident that she and the rest of the ASB students will recover from the sudden change and continue to thrive under Paulis’ advisement. “As someone who joined ASB at the same time as Rotondi, I’m really sad to see her leave. She was a really great leader, and someone I could talk to about anything. That being said, I am going to do my best to make the switch to the new advisor as seamless as possible. It’s hard to let go of old routines and such, but I know we’re going to get through it, and come out successful. I’m excited to meet the new advisor and see what’s to come,” Goldsmith said.