Twin Falls School District has programs to help first year teachers

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The new school year is right around the corner, and while kids prepare to return, so are teachers, especially those in their first year.

Elisa Radmall is entering her first year at Pillar Falls Elementary School. She is no stranger to working with kids, having taken on various roles in the schools.

“I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was in second grade,” Radmall said. “This is my 17th year in the Twin Falls School District. I’ve been a paraprofessional, a librarian and a secretary.”

Radmall will teach 25 kids and has high expectations.

“I’m expecting 25 cute little people to come into my classroom and become a family. To know they are loved, to know they are important, to know they are wanted, and then we can add the learning on top of that.”

Each one of these educators is helping combat the teacher shortage.

Dr. Brady Dickinson, Superintendent of the Twin Falls School District, discussed why first-year teachers are so important.

“First-year teachers are fun because they’re coming into the profession,” Dr. Dickinson said. “They’re excited. They’re ready to be in the classroom with their kids.

From getting their classrooms ready to prepare to take on their students, Radmall and other first-year teachers attend orientations to prepare.

“We got to be in a library,” Radmall said. “We got to be in a classroom. We got to be in several different places in a school and could kind of see how those classes were lined out.”

The district provides these teachers with instructional coaches, mentors and training.

“We bring in our new teachers for new teacher training,” Dr. Dickinson said. “Making sure they have everything that they need going into the classroom, they’re prepared, they know everything from logging on to their computer, to how to enter grades and take attendance.”

Dr. Dickinson said teachers must remember that their job matters and that they make a difference every day, even when it is hard.

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