They’re not the freshmen class, but they are newcomers to the
high school. The group of 27
– ranging from fresh-from-college graduates to veteran educators
– are the new teachers of San Benito High School. All new SBHS
teachers go through a week-long New Teacher Academy.
Hollister – Inside the San Benito High School library, hand-painted signs read ‘Welcome to SBHS’ and ‘We wish you a successful year!’ in ‘Baler black and red.
The newcomers listen intently and take notes as they’re lectured by longtime chemistry teacher Jessica Gautney.
They’re not the freshmen class, but they are newcomers to the high school. The group of 27 – ranging from fresh-from-college graduates to veteran educators – are the new teachers of San Benito High School.
All new SBHS teachers go through a week-long New Teacher Academy. The training helps familiarize them with the staff and campus of the high school, and prepare them for the start of the year.
“This week is unique to San Benito,” says Human Resource Director Mike Potmesil.
He says many other schools simply hand new teachers their keys and hope they’re prepared.
Assistant Principal Jennifer Logue, who runs the academy, says it’s designed to help answer all the questions a new teacher might have and ease nerves for the first day of school, Aug. 20 this year.
“When you go into the classroom that first day,” Logue says, “you’re more confident and the kids can see that confidence.”
In the library Thursday morning, the teachers learn about classroom management from Gautney, who went through the same training when she started teaching at the school in 1994. Gautney shows the teachers a commercial of cowboys herding cats, the same one shown during the Super Bowl a few years ago.
She explains that herding cats is similar to teaching and trying to manage a classroom.
“It’s what we do and it’s a job you have to love. If you haven’t felt that love yet, you’re going to be really excited,” Gautney says. “When you’re first class comes through that door, you’ll know you’re living the dream.”
Several of the new teachers say the program has helped make them feel more prepared for the first day.
Brandon Swift, a new college graduate, says he was more comfortable after completing the training, but he still is nervous for his first lesson.
“It’s just a jumble of nervousness and excitement all rolled into one,” says Swift.
He decided to switch to teaching after he realized his job working as a government geologist wasn’t as fulfilling as he had hoped.
Standing in his partially-decorated classroom, he describes his apprehension and thoughts that go through his head as he plans his first lesson.
“I’m just sitting here wondering, ‘How can I fill the 110 minutes? What do I do if I get a kid who doesn’t like science?'” Swift says. “I want to be one of those teachers that are remembered 10 or 15 years from now, so I’m trying to incorporate things I remember from when I was in high school or that I would have changed.”
Getting to know the other new teachers through the training has helped him in knowing he has a strong support group, he says.
Other teachers say the program was one of the things that attracted them to the high school in the first place.
“I know it’s very rare for schools to have this. The new teachers’ academy is one of the big reasons I took the job here,” says first-year math teacher Jen Luecke. “I have a lot of anxieties, so it’s been a great help. I feel 100 percent more comfortable.”
While administrators are happy to see the new teacher program attract educators to the school, it is also intended to help make their first year more manageable and to increase retention, Logue says. Traditionally, the high school loses many of its new teachers, and this is a trend they would like to see curbed.
The more the school can help with a teacher’s first year, Logue says, the more likely they are to enjoy their experience and, hopefully, stay.
Logue says she’s optimistic about this year’s group of new teachers, significantly larger than the one in 2006.
“They’re young and energetic,” she says. “It’s a large group, and I’m hoping that a lot of them stay.”
Alice Joy covers education and health for the Free Lance. She can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 336 or at [email protected].
