Hundreds of new teachers join the Northside family
NISD Communications Department
August 8, 2008
Northside ISD is on track to hire more than 830 new teachers by the time school starts Aug. 25.
This year's hiring efforts were marked by a larger-than-usual hiring pool, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Jim Miller said.
"This is an exceptional year," Miller said. "We've seen an abundance of applicants."
Miller said he suspects it's a result of the weak economy because there are a number of job candidates who left the education field years ago to try another career and are returning to teaching.
"The numbers are phenomenal," Miller said. "There's some good competition right now."
About 300 of teachers are filling brand new positions to accommodate five new schools opening - the most ever in one year in NISD history. Enrollment, projected to be 88,596 for 2008-09, is growing by about 3,000 students annually.
About a quarter of the new hires are first-time teachers while the rest are veteran teachers from other districts and from out of state.
Joshua Kuhlmann drove 19 hours from Wisconsin last weekend to be in San Antonio in time for Northside's New Teacher Academy, an annual rite of passage for all new teachers.
Kuhlmann, a fifth grade teacher at Nichols Elementary, was a student teacher at NISD last fall and said he fell in love with San Antonio and wanted to make it his home.
He's been subbing since he graduated in December from Winona State University in Minnesota and is excited about spending an entire year with the same class.
"I'm looking forward to building those relationships with my 22 students and watching them grow through the year," Kuhlmann said.
Earlier this week, he joined hundreds of other new teachers at New Teacher Academy to learn all about Northside's program, practices, and expectations.
"We are a great District and we have great teachers, a great staff, and a great Superintendent," Board President Katie Reed said during lunch. "You are now part of the Northside family, and that's what we are - a family."
Rachel Willis knows exactly what she means.
Willis attended Northwest Crossing Elementary, Stevenson Middle School, and graduated from O'Connor High School in 2003. After graduating from Texas State, she's returned to Northside to teach fourth grade at Elrod Elementary.
"It's a good feeling because I grew up in this community," Willis said. "I think it's going to be a challenging year because it's my first year, but I think I'm going to have a really supportive group of teachers this year."
As usual, Dr. Folks provided some words of encouragement to all the teachers, particularly those new to the profession.
"The most important thing, next to the home, in the development of a child is the teacher in the classroom," he said. "You truly have made a decision to be part of something great."
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