First-day jitters aren’t just for new students

Emily Steltenpohl shared the story First Day Jitters to a class of second-grade students Tuesday morning at Hawthorne Elementary School.

The picture book details Sarah’s struggle to get out of bed, and to summon the courage to go her first day at a new school. When she arrives, her enthusiastic principal whisks the nervous Sarah to class.

At the end of the story, Sarah is revealed to be the class’s new teacher.

For Steltenpohl — and the more than 200 other new teachers in the Kennewick, Pasco and Richland districts — Sarah’s story is more than a little autobiographical.

“My hope with teaching second grade is that I can get my students as excited about learning as I am planning lessons,” the new Kennewick teacher said. “I want (my kids) to see the potential in their learning.”

Tuesday was the first day of classes for many students across the Tri-Cities. At area high schools, freshmen got a jump on the new school year, with the rest reporting Wednesday.

After years of effort, Tri-City-area school districts are having an easier time finding new teachers to fill openings, though in Kennewick, the trend may be temporary. Last year, the district was looking to hire enough teachers to fill spots because of new middle and elementary schools. Next fall, employment is going to expand again with two new elementary schools slated to open.

Even with the 91 new teachers at the district, Kennewick still looking to fill nine spots.

Steltenpohl, a Pasco native, was looking for work at Richland, Pasco and Kennewick school districts after her husband finished his nursing degree and began working at Kadlec Regional Medical Center. She was lured to Hawthorne because of the innovative teaching techniques they offered.

All of the districts use similar methods to attract teachers, including attending job fairs and advertising. They tend to guard their most successful recruiting tools.

Robin Hay, Pasco’s director of employee services, told the school board in late July that the district received letters of commitment for all but one of its teaching positions.

“We had approximately 50 (teachers) that we had hired and ready to go into openings that came up,” she said. “I see that we have had a great resurgence in being able to find certificated teachers.”

In total, the district hired 88 new teachers for the new school year, and the number is likely to increase to nearly 100 by the time the second week of school starts, said Shane Edinger, the district’s director of public affairs.

Pasco’s initial enrollment figures for the first day of class had 8,151 students first through sixth grade. The figures are likely to be low, district officials said.

“For more than a decade, the district’s enrollment has continued to increase over the first several weeks of school,” the district reported.

The numbers normally continue to rise through Oct. 1, when official numbers need to be reported to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Pasco plans to release updated figures each day of the week.

For the district’s part, Kara Del Mar, the assistant vice principal at Hawthorne, said she was happy to have Steltenpohl in the position.

▪ In other developments, Richland’s teacher union is requesting the state’s Public Employment Relations Commission to mediate their contract dispute.

The district’s 700-plus teachers started the school year without a contract.

“The Richland School District ... refuses to move past a meager 2 percent raise and a proposal for teachers to work 2.2 more days,” said Richland Education Association President LaDonna Sterling.

The proposal is unacceptable when compared to the 5 percent raise Pasco teachers received, Sterling said.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 7:10 PM with the headline "First-day jitters aren’t just for new students."