2025-26 #SuperschoolShoutout
We’re showing our CPSD pride by giving a #SuperSchoolShoutout to Clover Park High School (CPHS), which welcomed its new principal, Jennifer Appel, last fall.
“Joining this school was wonderful because I felt welcome and embraced,” she said. “I’ve spent a lot of time listening and asking questions to learn about CPHS and the district.”
Principal Appel graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with a history degree but eventually joined the many members of her family, including her parents, paternal grandparents and husband, who heard the calling to become an educator. She was a classroom teacher for 19 years before becoming an administrator. “Advocating for students and families is why I went into administration,” she said. “I was working in a very high needs school with more than 500 multilingual language learners and saw the difficulty they had navigating the education system to receive the support needed to be successful.”
Principal Appel enjoys teaching a diverse student population and believes the differing experiences of students adds to a rich school culture that makes CPHS a great place to learn. She has also enjoyed getting to know more about our local community, CPHS families and staff who collaborate to support each student. “I am excited to keep learning about Clover Park School District to continue to improve student experiences and increase student achievement one step at a time,” she said. “It’s important to understand where we have been and where we are to determine where we need to be and how to get there.”
To continue our #SuperSchoolShoutout of CPHS, we’re celebrating the work of Spanish teacher Bayley Gochanour and senior Michalle Ruvalcaba.
This is Bayley’s second year teaching. She joined CPHS at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year after graduating from Pacific Lutheran University. “Spanish was not my first language, but my mom was a high school Spanish teacher, and we hosted teachers from Colombia and Costa Rica,” she said. “She was my teacher for seven semesters and instilled a love of language learning in me.”
At PLU, Bayley studied abroad in Oaxaca, Mexico, and after finishing her undergraduate program, she took a gap year to teach English in Spain before starting graduate school. “I wanted to make sure my language skills were as solid as possible before student teaching,” she said. “My experience is proof that language learning can open many doors for you, whether it be communicating with people in your community, teaching or travelling.”
Bayley’s main goal is to try to instill joy in each of her lessons. She focuses on grammar and vocabulary, but she also wants her students to leave her classroom with a desire to continue speaking Spanish independently. “We’ve tried to recreate authentic experiences like going to a restaurant, and after Bad Bunny performed at the Super Bowl, my kids were curious and wanted to learn more,” she said. “I’ve been taking advantage of that and incorporating him in my lessons because he’s a great example of the bridge language learning can create between cultures.”
Bayley loves working at CPHS with supportive staff and a diverse, engaged student population. “They inspire me, so I want to inspire them,” she said. “I’ll keep striving to create a positive, creative and welcoming classroom environment where they feel empowered to try new things.”
Michalle has attended CPHS for all four years of high school and feels tremendously proud of her progress as a senior. “It’s been such a big and personal journey because I didn’t know English when I came here and was still learning it during my sophomore year,” she said. “I used to be very shy and didn’t like speaking for presentations or anything.”
The JROTC program at CPHS, which Michalle joined her sophomore year, helped her learn English and encouraged her to come out of her shell. “My grades were good in my classes, but I challenged myself to overcome the language barrier by being more active in JROTC and I became so much more confident,” she said. “JROTC really helped me grow as a person and a student because I became more social, and I had to start doing presentations regularly to build those public speaking skills.”
Michalle participates in special team, drill team, strength team, saber team and the color guard. She went from a cadet to a first lieutenant to a core commander of the unit in just two years. This year, she also participated in the Daffodil Princess competition and will lead The Arlington Project in honor of Memorial Day. “This year, me and my teachers have all been reflecting and celebrating how far I’ve come as a speaker and a leader,” she said. “I’m very proud of my journey.”
After Michalle graduates this summer, she plans on joining the army as a health specialist in the medical field. After her active duty, she wants to join the U.S. Army Reserve and go to college to become a doctor or sociologist. “When I was in kindergarten, our teacher asked us to pick between being a doctor or serving in the military,” she said. “It’s exciting to plan my future and realize I can do both.”