A few months after Colin Price left in the middle of first semester, Caleb Heemstra was hired as the newest high school choir director for middle and high schoolers alike.

“My favorite part about teaching is that you can make an impact on people,” Heemstra said, “Music is something everybody can connect to.”

 Heemstra is fresh out of Western Michigan University, and he graduated in December. He student-taught in Brighton. 

“My favorite part of teaching in Brighton was just the bright environment that they had built up, kinda like here.” Heemstra said, “It’s exciting because I see a lot of roots for that stuff here.” 

Outside of teaching, Heemstra enjoys hiking, camping and considers himself to be a big outdoors person. He loves video games and enjoys playing Pokemon with his girlfriend. 

He has family in town, and some of his younger cousins attend the elementary school.

“I came to Stockbridge because it just seemed to be a really good fit, and I knew the area pretty well,” Heemstra said.

Heemstra plans on attending choir festival in Charlotte, Michigan in February with the high school choir, and is planning for two concerts to showcase the hard work of him and his students.

Sophomore Jessica Hollister, thought the change was hard. 

“I was upset about it at first, because I had really grown to like Mr. Price and he was a main part of my life,” Hollister said. “He was almost the only reason I wanted to go to school. But now that Mr. Heemstra is here, I’m thankful we have another actual teacher.”