Starting this new school year there have been some big changes, for example the bell schedules, Bearkat Den, but the most surprising change, was the added live news feed in the Bearkat Dens.
In the first week of school everyone had to attend Bearkat Den each day of the week and during that time Larry Whitehead broadcast to  every class. Whitehead had a little request of his students: he wanted to raise the attendance rate above 97 percent for the first six weeks.
“It’s an opportunity in a different format to address the students, sometimes just talking over the P.A. loses some of the impact that students being able to see you,” Whitehead said.
He said he hopes that the new live newsfeed will help him in his goals to get the students to improve the attendance rate and help the important accountability system. And with his new Twitter account, lwhitehead16, he hopes to connect with students on a more personal level. On these new formats he hopes that the school’s staff can talk about some important things about the school, for example, the new school year and the disciplinary procedures instead of doing it in a small group setting.
“A little bit, not too much because I’ve been doing this for a long time.” Whitehead said. ” It was different, but not too nerve wracking because Klein has great kids and they are so nice and kind to me so it wasn’t that intimidating.”
And as different as this all is to Mr.Whitehead, (especially the Twitter account), he only has a flip phone so it’s no wonder that he doesn’t know to run social media as well as the students know how to. But, at least he is trying to make an effort to connect to the students on a different format.
“I do have help, but I tell them what I want. And I’m just not that good with technology,” he said.