Northside ISD welcomed almost 750 new or new-to-NISD teachers at NISD New Teacher Academy this week, many with different stories to tell, but all with a passion for service and teaching students.
New Teacher Academy is a two-day in-service for new Northside teachers that provides foundational training and introduces them to the many resources available to them through the district. Teachers also complete their state-mandated Special Education training and are exposed to the curriculum and Social-Emotional Behavioral frameworks. They also participate in orientation at their campus that helps them learn about campus priorities and teaches them about the “Northside way.”
Klint Fabian, a 2019 Marshall High School graduate, has come full circle and will serve as a music teacher at Jay High School and Rayburn Middle School.
Fabian was a stand-out musical performer while in high school and even performed in a couple of our Back-to-School Convocations. Many will remember him as the Master of Ceremonies during the Greatest Showman-themed convocation.
He credits several of his NISD teachers as role models and says they are the reason he is now ready to lead his own classroom.
“Jason Brown, my middle school choir director, instills a love and passion for music in all his students and has single-handedly inspired an entire generation of music teachers in Texas,” he said. “My high school choir directors, Keith Martinez and Sherry Millican, helped shape the musician and person that I am today.”
“I am elated to be back as part of Team Northside,” he said. “NISD provides opportunities for students to explore, learn, and succeed in so many different disciplines and subjects. Being a part of this team means that I can help shape the next generation of leaders in our community.”
First-time teacher Robin Ibanez will be a first and second-grade teacher at Fernandez Elementary School. “I look forward to helping them achieve whatever they possibly can,” she said.
When asked what inspired her to become a teacher, she explained that during COVID she helped her nieces in their online studies. “I saw how hard it was for them, and once they moved from one district to another and their progress was notably better, I knew that’s when I wanted to be a teacher, particularly in Northside.”
“Northside made me want to be a teacher,” she explained.
Mia Villanueva was a senior in high school when she felt a tug towards becoming a Special Education teacher. She will serve as a Special Education Collaboration teacher at Knowlton Elementary School.
“I got involved in the Special Education community in high school, and I knew that I wanted to help people,” she said. She looks forward to building relationships with her students and is anxiously awaiting the first day of school.
Although neither Ibanez nor Villanueva attended Northside schools, they both said that they now feel as if they have come home.