For most students, getting a new teacher is something that just
comes along with moving up to the next grade level. But the 10
students who learn and play together at Panoche School are adapting
to their first new face in years.
Panoche – For most students, getting a new teacher is something that just comes along with moving up to the next grade level. But the 10 students who learn and play together at Panoche School are adapting to their first new face in years.
“I couldn’t believe it,” 7-year-old Dominick Jackson said about the morning he found out his teacher, Linda Kitman, was killed when her car rolled off a mountain slope last spring. “My grandma told me and I thought she was lying. I just couldn’t believe it.”
Eddy Jackson, 11, said he and his classmates have had to deal with the schools “bad luck” for years.
“People always say this school is cursed because all the teachers either get hurt or they leave,” he said.
And while the new teacher, Ottalie Davis, did sprain her knee the first week of school, she also assured the students she’s not going anywhere.
“I came in and showed them I was OK and using my crutches,” she said.
Davis, 50, was a bit concerned about taking over such a small, tight-knit school after the students had just lost their teacher of three years, but said the community and the students were welcoming and she could tell the kids were adjusting well.
“These kids are very resilient,” she said. “As traumatic as it must have been for them to lose a teacher, they’ve done a great job of bouncing back.”
Davis left her job at a juvenile justice facility in Florida, and moved to Panoche in August.
“It just sounded like such an unusual opportunity,” she said. “I mean how many people get to teach in a one-room school house?”
When she showed interest in the job, Davis said the school district informed her about Kitman’s death.
“They had mentioned there was grief counseling, and I always tell the kids if they want to talk about it, they can come to me,” she said.
After a summer off, the students also say they’ve come to terms with the tragedy, and are enjoying the lessons and activities Davis has brought to the school.
“We get to do a lot more science and reading,” Jackson said.
When they weren’t studying their own grade level subjects Monday afternoon, the students were quietly doing artwork and listening to Davis read Greek mythology.
Davis, who has also worked at schools in Honduras and Taiwan, said one of her main goals is to expose her students to what goes on miles away from the gravel-lined roads of Panoche.
“Right now I’m planning a field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium,” she said. “Along with a good academic background, I want these kids to come away with a sense of what’s out there in the world.”
Davis said the kids can rest easy and know she’ll be around for a while.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll stay out here, but at least a few years,” she said. “We’ll see how well this year goes and take it from there.”
