In his first year at DHS, teacher Caleb Thornton, 29, was arrested on Sept. 29 during 10th block. He taught freshman English, Reality 101 and had a senior Pr1meTime class.

No one saw it coming, not even his own students.

“Before I heard about what happened, I didn’t suspect anything,” freshman Maci Ahlmann said.

Thornton was arrested for child endangerment, possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, and distribution or possession with intent to distribute marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school.  The district immediately suspended Thornton and sent emails to parents and staff regarding the arrest.

“He deserves some kind of punishment; that kind of person shouldn’t be teaching kids,” Ahlmann said.

Looking back, some unsettling moments occurred.

“The amount of seniors he had in his class all the time was strange,” freshman Kiera May said.

Another Reality 101 teacher who worked alongside Thornton, Megan Mackay, struggled to understand the situation.

“I was completely surprised and taken aback because he seemed like a really nice guy,” Mackay said.

While he was just one of many teachers, Thornton’s arrest highly affects DHS’ reputation.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a student or an adult – if something negative happens and it makes it out into the news world, it’s going to give the whole community a bad impression of the school and maybe even the district,” Mackay said.