Mrs. Tera Digmann has been teaching for the last 18 years, though not all of those years were at Alliance High School. This year, however; Mrs. Digmann is stepping up as the new assistant principal at AHS.

In an interview, Digmann stated that “I applied [to become assistant principal] because a couple of years ago I had gotten my administration degree and I felt like it was a good time to advance my career, but as an assistant principal, I still get to work with kids everyday. That, to me, is the best of both worlds.”

 When explaining the biggest differences between being an administrator and a teacher, Digmann said, “As an administrator, you have to deal with the ‘behind-the-scenes’ things that take place. In a classroom you only have to deal with the 20 kids in front of you at that time. As an administrator, at any given time, you are dealing with somebody else’s classroom, hallway behavior or parking lot behavior. So instead of having my normal 100 kids, I have 470 kids. You also have to deal with all of the ‘hard stuff’. Things that kids would get sent out of the classroom for are now who I am dealing with. You deal with a lot more parents and a lot more paperwork. You aren’t just grading papers now, you are submitting more important paperwork.” 

“I miss getting to know the kids like I got to know my journalism class,” stated Digmann when asked what she misses about teaching. “When you have small groups of kids, you can get to know their personalities better. In this job, I normally deal with kids that are in for attendance or discipline. I have to have a lot more heavy conversations with those kids, instead of fun topics and conversations. There is just a different feel to the conversations that I get to have with kids.” 

Digmann’s favorite part about being assistant principal is that “You never have two days the same. I taught senior english for seven years, so I always knew there was a consistent lesson plan that I followed throughout that year. I knew exactly how each day was going to go, to an extent, but as assistant principal, I can walk into my office with a plan at 8:00 A.M., and by 8:15 my plan has been shot and I’m doing something completely different. It’s a new challenge, and a new experience.” 

Digmann also noted that, “I miss journalism a lot. The way I know Shelbee [Burke], Kelsey [Horton], and Morgan [Moomey] is so much different than how I’ll ever get to know any other kid. It’s those types of classes where you have a true connection with kids that I miss the most.” 

Mrs. Digmann has laid the foundation for the SPUD, and all of the writers here are truly grateful. Good luck, Mrs. Digmann, as you continue to do great things for Alliance High School!