Brian Whalen has been appointed the new Instructional Supervisor (IS) of the Career Technology and Engineering (CTE) Department, and Jill Serling has been appointed the new IS of the Science Department for the 2026-2027 school year, Principal Dr. Barbara Georges said.
Serling has been teaching science at South since 2013, with multiple years of science experience before that, replacing current Science IS, Jeffrey Rylander, Serling said. Whalen has been a Business Education Teacher for 20 yers, starting full-time at South in 2006, and is now replacing the current CTE IS, Dawn Hall, Georges said.
“I want a leader who understands that their primary purpose is not to stand in the spotlight, but to hold up everybody behind the scenes,” Georges said.
Applications for both of the IS positions opened mid-November and were collected mid-December, Georges said. Different screening committees of staff members were created, the first to select qualified candidates to be interviewed, the second to narrow the field of candidates. Whalen and Serling were presented to the D225 board as the final candidates, Georges said.
The new CTE IS has many responsibilities, including creating events and projects, annual evaluations, and staffing, Georges said.
“Whalen’s department felt that he was a trusted advocate,” Georges said. “They believe he understands the culture and needs of the department very well.”
Whalen plans to put the needs of the department over the needs of himself, he said. This will serve as an opportunity for both teachers to learn about classes they may not have taught before or know much about, Whalen said.
“I’m really looking forward to learning about all the different classes and hearing from teachers about their experience,” Whalen said.
Similarly, Serling plans to spend her first year learning and listening to teachers about what they need, Serling said.
“My philosophy is to sit down and talk with every teacher in the science department,” Serling said.
Ultimately, Serling hopes this helping philosophy will improve science education for all South students.
“I want to do the best I can to make the jobs of the teachers as easy as possible,” Serling said. “In the long run, I want to benefit all the students and classrooms.”
