“When one door closes, another door opens.” And in some cases, like current Journal advisor Mike Klopfenstein’s, two doors open.

When he arrived to his first SHS Teacher Day in the fall of 2004, he received a new job, along with meeting his wife. A meet-cute occurred when former Journal adviser Mary Jungemann brought The Journal advisor at the time, Heather Stockdell, to meet Mike, “the new guy.”

The two walked and talked after an introduction at a staff doughnut stand, and their friendship only continued, with thanks to The Journal, when the two discovered they both taught journalism.

Friendship turned to flirting and flirting turned to romance. They grew to understand that they shared similar life philosophies and interests throughout the school year of 2004 to 2005. The Journal, along with journalism as a whole, was a major topic of conversation in the early stages of their relationship.

The two gathered many cute couple stories involving their newspapers, Heather’s North Star and Mike’s Journal, and journalism still plays a major role in their relationship today. “One of the reasons we have a great relationship is just that we do have common interests … ,” Mike said. “It’s nice for me to know that she really understands what I do and understands it so well that I can ask her advice and ask her for help.”