By J1 Reporter Lily Biggs

Transferring schools can be a hard adjustment for many students each year. It can feel unsettling to be “the new kid on the block,” especially at a competitive school like Marian. This is just as much the case with new teachers as it is new students.

After teaching at Pius X in Lincoln for 32 years, Mr. Jake Moore came to Marian to teach business courses as well as to become Marian’s new varsity volleyball coach and assistant athletic director. The adjustment has been different than he expected, and he has noticed many differences between the schools. 

“The block scheduling is a lot different from Pius. Pius has 8 periods in one day rather than just four,” Moore said. 

This is a good change, though, because it suits his teaching style. When he was at Pius, Moore had a “48 hour rule” where the homework he assigned was due in 48 hours. 

“It feels more college realistic because you don’t have the same college classes every day,” he said. 

Another difference in Marian is finals. Since every class was on the same day at Pius, during finals they had their finals based on the period the class was in, rather than Marian’s finals of having all finals of one subject being at one time. Marian also has different teachers moderate finals. 

Marian and Pius’s environment are very different. “The dynamic here is much more empowering for females. At Pius there was more competitiveness between genders,” Moore said. He also likes the classroom discussions a lot more. This can no doubt be attributed to Marian’s six core values. 

Marian has been quite the adjustment for Moore. “I was scared at first, but I’m comfortable now. Mrs. [Beth] Dye [gym teacher and Moore’s mentor teacher] has helped me adjust into Marian, and I’m very thankful for her. Although I will always love Pius, I think I like Marian more!” 

Marian welcomes Moore and looks forward to more victories, both in the classroom and on the court.