As the spring semester kicks off, With sophomore class dean Ellie Skewes-Cox out on maternity leave, Alex Escalante, dance teacher and sophomore adviser, has assumed the position as interim class dean. Both Skewes-Cox and Escalante hope to make the transition between deans as smooth as possible.

“I’m going to get up to speed with Ellie and really learn everything that I need to learn in the short amount of time to make sure that there are no hiccups, and there are no kids that are going to fall between the cracks,” said Escalante. “I’m going to do my utmost best to make sure that there is a smooth transition, and that there is not an effect on any of the students in the 10th grade.”

Despite the sophomore class beginning their fourth semester at Branson and already acclimated to Skewes-Cox as their dean, Escalante feels no stress that he will be able to fill Skewes-Cox’s shoes. As Skewes-Cox goes on maternity leave, Escalante will also be followed with support from the Branson staff and administration.

“Another thing I really appreciate about this transition is Alex is already a sophomore adviser, so he already knows folks in the class. He also teaches a lot of people in dance, so it feels really good that it’s not just someone who doesn’t know the class,” said Skewes-Cox.

Escalante’s greatest goal as sophomore class dean would be building relationships.

“I think my ambition … is to not only get to know every student on a surface level but to make meaningful relationships with them so that I can carry that forward to junior or senior year,” said Escalante. “As a sophomore adviser, I have a really good insight as to what my sophomores are going through. I have 8 advisees, and we have a class of 104, so my greatest goal is to be an advisor to all 104 students in a meaningful way.”

To build these meaningful relationships with students, Skewes-Cox and Escalante believe knowing all of their students and developing an understanding of them is crucial. Both Skewes-Cox and Escalante also think that having each student feel seen is essential to building a relationship and environment that fosters encouragement and support.

“I learned from this conference that I did about the importance of active listening and not always trying to fix things in your head when someone is talking to you about something, but really truly just listen to them,” said Skewes-Cox.