Loading up half of the family in the car and heading on the way to a normal day of school at Gretna High School. This year it isn’t as normal. There are three Stastnys at GEHS and one at GHS.
A split in the schools won’t split up this family. For only this year, the Stastny family will have students and a teacher in both schools.
Braeden is a senior at GHS; Korbin is a sophomore now at East. They are both involved in many of the same extracurriculars: band, e-sports and tennis. For Braeden’s junior year and Korbin’s freshman year, they did those activities together. It was a year full of mornings that these siblings sat in their father’s (David’s) classroom and played games or practiced in the band room together. These acts of brotherly bonding have broken apart with the new school opening. Taryn, the youngest Stastny, is now a freshman at East, and doing a lot of bonding still with the family but not having the same experiences with the school split as her father and brothers.
“I will always love the Dragons. I spent the first 17 years of my career at GHS. I know amazing staff and students at both buildings, and I am excited to be able to help lay the foundation at GEHS,” Dave Stastny said.
Dave Stastny is the broadcasting teacher at East. He said he had many experiences teaching at GHS but has begun a new chapter, being a Griffin, and staying with his two youngest kids for the rest of their high school careers.
One similarity this family has with others is their competition between siblings. The unfortunate part is they are unable to compete this year because of the school separation, and they are also unable to be on the same team.
“The hardest part is that we aren’t allowed to compete against each other because we’re in different divisions,” senior Braeden Stastny said. “As of right now, East is one division below Gretna in almost everything.”
This opportunity could have been available if Braeden wasn’t going to graduate in the spring. Due to the announcement of Gretna High School going Class B next year, they could have had the opportunity to be in the same division . . . but that would be next year.
“We had been looking forward to all three being in the same school together for a year, but the timing did not work out,” Dave Stastny said.
This is the last year Braeden will be in high school so, due to that, these siblings will never be able to compete in high school. The family for a long time had anticipated the brothers participating on the same team.
“At the very least I wanted to compete against them, but since there is a division below us, I haven’t got that opportunity,” Braeden said.
Despite wanting to compete, at the end of the day they’re here to cheer and support each other. The effect of being in two separate schools is not a major challenge for this one family.
“They’re all involved in a lot of extracurriculars, so balancing the time can be tough, but they all go to each other’s events and cheer them on,” Dave Stastny said.
Managing every activity can be challenging at times. Due to the fact that this family can not compete together, they take the time to be there to encourage each other.
“I feel like we were all a lot closer when we went to the same school,” Braeden Stastny said.
