KHS Principal Daren Johnston

By: Jen D., Class of 2004

Recently I interviewed the new Keystone High School Principal, Mr. Daren Johnston. In this interview I asked him questions about the high school and the community of Knox in general.

As for the community he did an extensive search when he was looking for a job. He went as far as stopping at the local businesses and asking their opinion on the community. Mr. Johnston said he came here because "…I myself not only want to work where it is small and rural but I also wanted that same situation for my son and daughter who are 2 years old and I want them to be in that type of situation when they go to school." As you can see he is a family oriented type of person who is always thinking of his children’s well being. When asked the question, would you recommend living here to anyone?  Mr. Johnston stated, "…I believe that we are doing an honest job, everyone from staff, faculty and up through are doing the best job that we can do to make sure that we have a safe and productive school and are turning out students that know what they want to do and are ready to move on the next step in life." Other advantages to living in Knox that he mentioned are that we are only four miles away from Interstate 80 and, we are also close to a major route that goes through the state. One of the things that he believes is keeping businesses from moving into the area is the fact that the borough hasn’t extended the water and sewage lines out to the developmental park. He stated, " I think this is a hurdle and a major step for the borough to do. Once that happens I think that business is going to move in there because basically the there [will be] water and sewage so its easier for them to move in." As for now Knox will have to stay a small community and wait for the industry to move in and develop.

Keystone High School is constantly trying to make students achieve more through their high school years. "I think that Keystone is a district for anyone who wants to put their child through a school that is safe."  Some people may think that children are being pressured to do well at a young age so I asked Mr. Johnston his opinion on the matter and he said, " I at this point would probably disagree…. You will always have those parents who  makes education number one that slim percentage who I feel do pressure their students too much instead of letting them grow up and be a kid first. We end up pushing them to the point where they were never allowed to be that kid." He also explained to me that you can tell a parent you will pass their son/daughter but by doing that he would be doing a disservice to the student and parent because no matter how happy they are he is still not full filling his duty as the principal of Keystone High School. He also stated what he felt about holding students back. He said, "I always tell patents that it is much easier at an elementary level to let retention happen and make sure that your son/daughter knows because lets face it when we were younger we [would] even play with our neighbor and we would fight and the next day we would be back out there playing with them." As you can see Mr. Johnston takes a realistic approach when it comes to the educations of the students here at Keystone High School.

Since he has only been here for a year I asked him if he has gotten any positive feedback about Keystone High School. His response was, "…there has not been one time this year I have received a phone call from a hotel, I have received one phone call from a restaurant or anything of the sort that our students have been disrespectful. It had always been the exact opposite that I have gotten comments back even letters back that say thank you for sending your students. Your chaperones and everyone did a wonderful job please consider us and come back next year. And that’s a plus." So as you can see we are a well-behaved student body.

If you were to look at the athletics agenda for the year and then look at the amount of students and the size of Keystone High School you would be astounded because there are so many students participating. The problem is that there aren’t enough activities to cover the students that may not have that athletic ability. So, we have received a grant from the Government called "Communities that Care." The members of communities that care have already started scheduling activities for 7^th and 8^th graders after school. This is just another way to keep students off of the street and out of trouble.

Mr. Johnston was a wonderful person to interview because he answered my questions from a parent’s point of view not just a high school principal’s point of view. He also gave me his opinions on issues that are not often talked about in Knox. Mr. Johnston is an important asset to the Knox community because he is the one who is in charge of keeping the students at the high school safe and learning.