With classes scheduled to start Aug. 24 in the Perry Community School District (PCSD), the school system’s new teachers came together Monday morning for an orientation and team-building session and a chance to fill out some necessary paperwork.
The morning began with a few introductions. The vice chairperson of the Perry Community School District Board of Directors, Jim Lutmer, and two directors, Marjean Gries and Kyle Baxter, welcomed the teachers. The school board members were also joined by several of the district’s principals and vice principals.
Baxter said he was glad to see “such a fine group of teaching professionals who are entering the district.” He also said he is looking forward to next month’s “exciting” school board election.
The Dallas County Auditor’s office has released the official slates of candidates in the Sept. 8 school board elections across the county. In the Perry Community School District, six candidates are vying for three open seats.
The 2015-2016 academic year will be the first in Perry for 21 new teachers and one new administrator. The district employs 140 full-time teachers, and the new hires represent a 15 percent turnover.
Sixteen of the new teachers are female and five male. The Perry Elementary School is filling 14 teaching spots, while three new instructors will take up duties at the Perry Middle School and four at Perry High School.
The starting salary for a new teacher in the Perry Community School District is about $37, 130, according to Laura Painter, payroll specialist with the PCSD. The salary schedule for teachers tops out at about $66,458, Painter said.
Lynn Ubben, who occupies the district’s top spot as superintendent of schools, draws a salary of $159,054.
Perry’s teaching staff averages 9.6 years of teaching experience, with about 7.5 years of their experience in the Perry school system, according to Kevin Vidergar, director of teaching and learning in the PCSD.
The average age of Perry’s teachers is 37, and about 30 percent hold advanced degrees, Vidergar said. He facilitated the morning’s activities for the new teachers, filling them in on details about the district and boosting their confidence about succeeding in the Perry schools.
New to the Perry Elementary School this year are:
- Robert Benesh, ESL
- Erin Blank, special education
- Rebecca Collins, third grade
- Julie Elliott, second grade
- Erin Galivan, second grade
- Nicole Hayes, kindergarten
- Katie Hermann, first grade
- Emily Lane, fourth grade
- Mike Mott, counselor
- Melissa Olson, third grade
- Jen Quanrud, third grade
- Kellie Seales, ESL
- Tracy Steere, special education
- Jennifer Zhai, special education
In the Perry Middle School, Jon Hoefer will teach sixth grade mathematics; Michael Lovan will teach sixth grade language arts; Adam Modlin will direct the behavior modification room.
Perry High School will have a new teacher in the English Language Learners program in Allisa Foley-Bahney. Melanie Harmon will teach special education. Molly Norton is a new science instructor, and Casey Young will teach business education.
Laura Skeel will fill the single administrative opening in the district as the new director of learning supports, which manages the ESL and special education programs for the Perry school system.
Videgar is highly skilled at team building, and he soon had the teachers at ease and sharing with one another their goals and aspirations for education in the PCSD. Armstrong, Iowa native Melissa Olson, who will teach third grade at the Perry Elementary School, said passion is the key.
“I believe the greatest strengths of today’s public schools are the passionate teachers,” Olson said. “We are here because we truly love children and want to make a positive impact in their lives.”
Molly Norton of Marshalltown, who has been substitute teaching in the Perry system and now takes on full-time duties as a science instructor, said she keeps an “open door” policy in her classroom.
“As a teacher, I want my students to know that I care about them as a person and their dreams are possible,” Norton said, “as long as they are willing to work for them.”
Ankeny native Jon Hoefer said he aims at “teaching students to survive in the real world by bringing learning to life. This is done by bringing real-world applications into the classroom with hands-on activities.” Hoefer will teach sixth grade mathematics.
Adam Modlin from Perry said he has “grown up in Perry all my life and felt it would be a good place to start my education career.” He said he wants to teach students that failure is really just a step toward success.
“I want to help students understand that failure is acceptable,” Modlin said. “It will inevitably happen somewhere down the road. However, what isn’t acceptable is not trying at all.”
