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Home > Archive > Aug 9, 2007

New Teachers Prepare for Start of School
By Dixie Weekly News
Excitement and anticipation were in the air – and a few butterflies, too – as approximately 200 new Washington County teachers gathered at Dixie Middle School last week for new teacher induction.
Not all the teachers at the induction are first-year teachers, but all are new to Washington County School District classrooms.
Leading the new teachers through induction were four district master teachers and staff developers: Kris Cunningham, an algebra teacher at Dixie Middle; Angela Spinks, elementary; Madlyn Haws, an At Risk teacher at Lava Ridge Intermediate; and Rich Mildenhall, a Japanese teacher at Hurricane High.
The four staff developers, a facilitator from every grade level, received extensive training to ease the way for those new in the profession. Of the inductees, about 100 to 125 are new to the profession, Cunningham said. And about 70 have three or more years of teaching experience but are new to the district.
“We want them to know about our (school) culture, about our Professional Learning Communities, our evaluation process,” Cunningham said, “and meet people to network with.”
It was a full week of training for the new teachers. The staff developers answered questions, established professional networks and eased concerns also. The new teachers also spent time with master teachers in their grade level and subject area throughout the district.
But support and training of the new teachers doesn’t end with the start of school. New teacher induction was just the start of a three-year mentoring program for Level 1 teachers called EYE – Entry Years Enhancement.
For their first three years in the classroom, teachers will be given a mentor to help them, answer their questions, give them suggestions, allow them to observe more experienced teachers in the classroom, and offer them support and encouragement.
“We lay the groundwork, and the EYE program will continue mentoring,” Cunningham said.
State, district and school administrators hope the early mentoring and support that began with last week’s new teacher induction will increase teacher retention and improve student outcomes.
As part of their induction, new teachers completed questionnaires and had a photo taken to introduce themselves to the community.

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