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PITTSBURG —
Students aren’t the only learners at school. On Thursday 23 teachers underwent the first day of a two-day orientation designed to instruct them in what they need to know about working in Pittsburg USD 250.
“This is the largest group of new teachers since I’ve been here,” said Destry Brown, USD 250 superintendent of schools. “I think we’ll probably have a big group next year as well, judging from the number of people who’ve told me that this will be their last year of teaching.”
New teacher orientation is held each year, but this year three teachers were asked to help organize the sessions.
“Darlene Montgomery, Melinda Kitchen and I were asked to do this,” said Angela Lewis. “We wanted to put a punch into it, make it fun.”
That included team building games after lunch, prize drawings and motivational videos.
“Teachers have a perspective on what new teachers need, like the particulars on the online grade book, that a superintendent might not realize,” Lewis said.
“It hasn’t been that long since we were new teachers,” Kitchen added. “Quite a few of those here are new to the profession, but there are also quite a few seasoned educators coming to us.”
Lewis, Pittsburg Community Middle School language arts teacher, said that at least two of the new teachers had been her students at PCMS.
“When I started teaching, the teachers who had taught me were my colleagues,” she said. “Now I’m in that position.”
One of her former students is Elizabeth Darling, who will be teaching two-dimensional art at Pittsburg High School.
“I’m very excited about this, I’ve come full circle,” said Darling, a PHS graduate.
This is a dream come true for her.
“I loved being a student at PHS, and it was always in the back of my mind, a pipe dream, to work at PHS some day,” Darling said.
Amy Hullett, new Meadowlark Elementary School kindergarten teacher, came to Pittsburg by way of New York and Arkansas.
“I grew up in Arkansas, then lived in New York, and when my parents moved back here I ended up attending Pittsburg State University,” she said. “I love it here.”
Ana Ruiz actually has worked in Pittsburg schools for several years. A native of Mexico and naturalized U.S. citizen, she was an ESL (English as a second language) paraprofessional at Westside Elementary School. Now she will teach second grade at Meadowlark.
Students aren’t the only learners at school. On Thursday 23 teachers underwent the first day of a two-day orientation designed to instruct them in what they need to know about working in Pittsburg USD 250.
“This is the largest group of new teachers since I’ve been here,” said Destry Brown, USD 250 superintendent of schools. “I think we’ll probably have a big group next year as well, judging from the number of people who’ve told me that this will be their last year of teaching.”
New teacher orientation is held each year, but this year three teachers were asked to help organize the sessions.
“Darlene Montgomery, Melinda Kitchen and I were asked to do this,” said Angela Lewis. “We wanted to put a punch into it, make it fun.”
That included team building games after lunch, prize drawings and motivational videos.
“Teachers have a perspective on what new teachers need, like the particulars on the online grade book, that a superintendent might not realize,” Lewis said.
“It hasn’t been that long since we were new teachers,” Kitchen added. “Quite a few of those here are new to the profession, but there are also quite a few seasoned educators coming to us.”
Lewis, Pittsburg Community Middle School language arts teacher, said that at least two of the new teachers had been her students at PCMS.
“When I started teaching, the teachers who had taught me were my colleagues,” she said. “Now I’m in that position.”
One of her former students is Elizabeth Darling, who will be teaching two-dimensional art at Pittsburg High School.
“I’m very excited about this, I’ve come full circle,” said Darling, a PHS graduate.
This is a dream come true for her.
“I loved being a student at PHS, and it was always in the back of my mind, a pipe dream, to work at PHS some day,” Darling said.
Amy Hullett, new Meadowlark Elementary School kindergarten teacher, came to Pittsburg by way of New York and Arkansas.
“I grew up in Arkansas, then lived in New York, and when my parents moved back here I ended up attending Pittsburg State University,” she said. “I love it here.”
Ana Ruiz actually has worked in Pittsburg schools for several years. A native of Mexico and naturalized U.S. citizen, she was an ESL (English as a second language) paraprofessional at Westside Elementary School. Now she will teach second grade at Meadowlark.
“I have been in schools before, but this will be my classroom and my students,” she said. “I am very excited.”
Sessions Thursday included a welcome from the superintendent, a presentation on the district’s electronic resources by Noah Grotheer, a talk on the benefits of Pittsburg Education Association membership by Tony White, Sherry Turnbull and Michelle Casey, as well as sessions on the PDP Toolbox by Sue Boehne and Brian Biermann, AESOP by Vickie Waltrip and Biermann, and key cards and the district web site by Brett Dalton.
White told the new teachers that they were encouraged to further their education, which would help move them up the pay scale. As a plus, the district will reimburse half the tuition costs of additional schooling.
“I kind of cringe when I hear people say that you can’t get rich being a teacher,” he said. “You don’t have to take a vow of poverty, either. You do have to go to school, and there’s a school right down the street.”
The second session today will be for a half-day and include an introduction to USD 250 support staff members, a session on curriculum and teaching, “Learning the Ropes” and a presentation on the new teacher mentorship program at PSU by Dr. Kent Runyan.
