This year, Novi High School welcomed 13 new staff, 5 of whom are administrative or support staff.
Jacqui Smith, this year’s assistant principal for freshmen, has a background in special education teaching and administration. She taught 11 years of middle and high school special education before moving to administration. She has worked in K-12 special education district administration and building administration. Before coming to Novi, Smith was an assistant principal in Texas.
Smith originally thought she was going to be a math teacher, but found her passion for special education in high school.
“I had some friends in high school, who found themselves in some sticky situations, and some of them I felt were treated very, very unfairly. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but those kids were students who qualified for special education. To me, they were just my friends, right? I didn’t categorize them as anything other than my friend,” Smith said. “I felt that they were treated that way because of their classification of being a special education student, and that’s what made me go into special education with a focus on behavior. So that’s what kind of made me change my mind from a math teacher to a special education teacher and then eventually wanting to do the behavior path as an administrator as well, and that’s why I went back to school for administration.”
I have a personality where I like to try to see the whole picture so I’m not coming in hot with all these ideas of things that I want to do. I feel very comfortable taking this first little bit to really observe.
— Jacqui Smith
Smith is originally from the Chicagoland area, which led her back to the Midwest after working in Texas. Her family lives in Plymouth and Smith found Novi while looking for surrounding districts.
“I knew I wanted to get back into secondary. I was at a younger school and I knew I wanted to get back. My heart is really with high school,” Smith said. “I have kids who are in school, and I always grapple with whether I want to be in the same district as them or not. They attend school in Plymouth Canton, and I decided that I wanted to be in a different district than my kids,” Smith said. “There was an opening here and I started doing a bunch of research about Novi and our scores and our population and the diversity and it was very intriguing, so that’s what brought me here.”
With a larger administrative team than Novi has had in years past, Smith has found collaborating with her team to be a rewarding challenge.
“We don’t always agree, but I can see our personalities coming out in the way that we are attacking a solution or the way that we are trying to think about the thing we’re speaking on,” Smith said. “That’s been exciting for me, to not only feel like I’m not the only one on the team, but also to figure out the personalities of this team, our strengths and weaknesses, and how we’re going to go about maneuvering and attacking different things as they come up as a group. It’s been exciting and everyone has been extremely kind. I am not afraid to ask for help. I’m asking a lot of questions and admitting when I don’t know something.”
Smith hopes to spend the beginning of her time in Novi observing what is already happening around the school.
“I have a personality where I like to try to see the whole picture so I’m not coming in hot with all these ideas of things that I want to do. I feel very comfortable taking this first little bit to really observe,” Smith said. “I find that, for my personality, to be very helpful – watching how people operate, the dynamics of what is already here, and then really trying to figure out how can I use my strengths to then help elevate this team and this Wildcat family to the next level.”
Smith has loved her time at Novi so far and hopes to be here for a long time.
“The kids are extremely invested in what they’re doing here each and every day, and the fact that they feel comfortable to bring some of these brilliant ideas to the table, to the staff, and the staff is willing to listen and support them in implementing those things I think is just amazing,” Smith said. “I’ve been in high schools where you don’t really see that – everybody’s there to just do school, do what you got to do to get out – so this is extremely refreshing.”
Katie Keszei, counselor, grew up attending Birmingham Public Schools and attended Western Michigan University for undergraduate and graduate school. Prior to coming to Novi, she worked for Colon Community Schools for one year and Waterford Schools for three years.
During her undergraduate studies, Keszei had an internship with Planned Parenthood in their education department.
Ultimately, helping students is what’s most important to me.
— Katie Keszei
“I worked with their teen peer educators during a weekly meeting. We talked about issues that were going on in their lives, things that they are passionate about, social justice movements that they were interested in,” Keszei said. “I really liked connecting with the teens and helping them through those issues. That was really what pushed me to pursue a career in school counseling.”
Keszei was drawn to Novi due to the diversity of the community and the emphasis the district puts on Social Emotional Learning and resources.
“Something that I’m really passionate about is connecting with diverse communities,” Keszei said. “Ultimately, helping students is what’s most important to me, but I think what specifically drew me to Novi is all the resources that are available for students, both academically and socially, emotionally, and all-encompassing.”
Keszei started at Novi last school year in April and is still settling into her position.
“It’s been pretty crazy with getting the year going, schedule change requests, and now I’m moving on to college applications and letters of recommendation,” Keszei said. “It’s been really busy, but I’ve really enjoyed working with the counseling team and getting to know the staff.”
Keszei hopes to continue connecting with her community and students throughout her career.
“I hope to do what I’ve always hoped to do – to help students, connect with them, connect with their families, and really understand the support that they need. No two students are the same, so no support looks the same,” Keszei said.
Zena Makled, attendance secretary, began her career in Novi at the Early Childhood Center as an administrative assistant. Before that, she worked for Dearborn Public Schools as a social responsibility technician (SRT).
Makled moved to Novi with her husband and children shortly before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s a great school district, great area, you know, beautiful businesses around and we knew we wanted our kids to go to Novi schools,” Makled said. “We live in the Village Oaks sub and we’re very happy with our neighbors and the community.”
Makled had only good things to say about her first month working at the high school.
“All the students are really kind. The coworkers are awesome. Everyone is willing to help and every time I’ve met a new student, they’ve been very kind,” Makled said.
Makled hopes to see her children walk through Novi High School’s halls one day.
“My kids go to Novi schools and I would love to watch them grow. I hope to stay at the high school, move up if I can, and, you know, be around the community and get to know a lot of the teachers here that I still have not met yet,” Makled said. “I’m excited for the year here, and it’s a great school, great kids so far, and great principals. So, I’m excited.”
Be sure to welcome our new staff when you see them.
