Jefferson City Schools hire nearly 100 new teachers
Jefferson City Public Schools hosted a new teacher orientation Monday.
Nearly a hundred new hires got to know each other and find out about their new schools. The number may seem high, but school officials said about 10% of the teaching population turns over on a year to year basis.
First grade teacher Jacki Jackson said, “I’m excited to be a part of a district with such a strong mentoring program, the training I’ve received so far and the media I’ve received so far has really gotten me excited to be a part of something that is going to make me a better and stronger teacher.”
“We’ve had a pretty normal year of turnover, we average about 9 to 10 percent turnover and that’s pretty close to where we’re at this year as well,” said Superintendent Brian Mitchell.
For some, it isn’t their first time teaching in the Capital City.
High school business teacher Kami Biesemeyer said, “I’m really looking forward to getting back to my roots, I’m a Jefferson City High School graduate.”
Brittany Smith, who works in the Encore Department, said,”It’s exciting to work in the school district I grew up in and just excited to get to teach students in the community that I grew up in.”
Others are new graduates.
“This is my first time teaching, I’m actually right out of Mizzou. I’m actually a grad student at Mizzou and I’m really happy to be at Jeff City,” said 9th grade teacher Kevin Krumrey.
“For us as a district we’ll have approximately 1400 to 1500 applications for our teaching positions so you’re looking at some of the very best teaching applicants in the state,” said Mitchell.
Things that teachers will learn this week include everything from iPad training, to media training, to even talking about maintaining healthy lifestyles while working hard.
“I feel that that is one of the crucial parts of being a teacher, is to continue to learn, and that it’s my favorite thing to do,” said Jackson.
The training will continue throughout the rest of the week as school officially starts on the 14th.
