As new teachers join the Camas High School staff and beloved teachers part ways, some teachers are transitioning into new positions. At the end of the 2020-21 school year, Camas High School promoted Darci Jones from a behavioral special education teacher to the 9th grade Dean of Students due to her 22 years of experience in the behavioral realm of education. 

“This is my 9th year at Camas High School. My first 13 years [of teaching] were in Las Vegas, Nevada,” Jones said.

Jones earned her masters degree in education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Before earning her masters, Jones completed her undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Oklahoma, which is what initially inspired her to work with children.

“Towards the end of my undergraduate studies, I started taking courses regarding deviant behaviors and how adolescents struggle with emotions, which sparked an interest to work with kids who struggle in those ways,” Jones said.

As the freshman dean, Jones supports 9th grade students and collaborates with their counselors to combat attendance issues and schedule conflicts. She also works to help kids who are struggling and may be in need of additional emotional assistance. Jones’ background in psychology and her interest in the social-emotional issues of kids gives her the ability to support CHS students to a greater extent than before. 

“My experience in being able to support kids who struggle [with social and emotional learning] gave me a strong skill set on knowing how to step in and intervene when kids are struggling. The difference has been that over the last 8 years as a behavior teacher, I worked with the same small group of kids for four, sometimes five years. So it’s a little bit different now because a lot of the kids I’m working with are new to me,” Jones said.

In her free time, Jones enjoys traveling. Although she has traveled to Europe and South America, her most memorable trip was her trip to China in 2004. 

“I was working at an English immersion summer camp for students that were going from their freshman to sophomore year in college. They were at a university in Beijing and I helped improve their English communication skills. The drastic cultural difference between the US and China was a growing experience for me,” Jones said. 

As the 2021-2022 school year continues on, Jones is looking forward to getting to know the 9th graders and learning new things about the administrative side of things. “It’s an exciting new challenge,” Jones said.