Sussex Academy welcomed Sen. Brian Pettyjohn as Principal for a Day at the secondary campus Oct. 27.

As a public charter school, Sussex Academy uses different terminology than traditional public schools. The role referred to as a principal in traditional public schools is known as a dean at Sussex Academy, which has a middle school dean and a high school dean.

Sen. Pettyjohn first stopped by Michael Schaefer’s criminal justice class to share his background in politics before meeting with Head of School Kyle Bentley.

Next, Sen. Pettyjohn visited Brian Micciche’s 6th grade STEM class, where students were designing a project in CAD, and then helped students in Christopher Novak’s room understand constitutional amendments and how they are applied to decision-making in politics today.

A visit to Tim Elmer’s introduction to engineering course allowed Sen. Pettyjohn to observe students as they designed and 3D-printed keychains.

Sen. Pettyjohn also met with Dean of High School Lauren Hvorecny and Student Government Association officers Priya Haldar, president; Victoria Evans vice president; Emma Feagans, secretary; and Caitlin Redick, treasurer.

Priya, a senior, said it was a privilege to welcome Sen. Pettyjohn to the school and to be able to talk with him.

“He provided us with lots of insight into what is currently happening in our local and state governments,” Priya said. “The other officers and I were lucky to get a glimpse of what it is like to be involved with our state’s politics. Sen. Pettyjohn was incredibly kind and generous to share his time and knowledge with us.”

Sen. Pettyjohn also spent time in Scott Bleile’s seventh grade social studies class, where he assisted students as they worked in groups to create new political parties, each complete with a platform, logo and slogan.

Next, Sen. Pettyjohn met with Dean of Middle School Rachael Johnston and members of the Student Lighthouse Leadership Team, comprising students Arianna Green, Patrick Keller, Zoe Sexton, Alexa Caccamise, Nishk Mendonza, Lillian Keenan where he answered questions and provided advice to the emerging young leaders.

Nishk, a sixth grader, said he had a wonderful experience meeting and talking with Sen. Pettyjohn.

“Of the many topics that he spoke to us about, what stood out for me was to always have empathy, and to replace the ‘I’ in our vocabulary with a ‘we.’”