New year, new teachers

Baldwin welcomes new hires

Vaishali Patel The Union-Recorder

MILLEDGEVILLE — As faculty, staff and administrators with Baldwin County Schools create lesson plans, clean classrooms and organize desks before classes begin Wednesday, 10 new educators are joining the school district family, taking the time this week to meet and greet unfamiliar faces and get acquainted with community businesses and leaders.

Though Eagle Ridge, Midway, Creekside and Blandy Hills Elementary schools are not welcoming new teachers to their schools in the 2010-2011 academic year, Oak Hill Middle School is excited to embrace three new Baldwin County natives as eighth grade instructors.

New Blandy Hills Principal Charlene Thorpe said she is also enthusiastic about her faculty and staff working in unity to meet goals and expectations for the new school year because “we’re a winning school.”

“I encourage each and every one of them to embrace this new beginning with an open mind to nurture, guide and mentor all of our students to fulfill their dreams. I’m so excited to be part of history, and Blandy has some truly dedicated faculty and staff,” the former Oak Hill eighth grade assistant principal said. “As a school, it is imperative that all of us stay focused, positive, consistent and data-driven in order for all of the students to maximize learning. We have an arduous task to help all of our students become master scholars because the best students in the world are learning here.”

With the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program now housed at Blandy Hills, moving from Creekside, seven-year ESOL teacher Wynne Bates said the full-size classroom will provide more space to educate pre-K to fifth grade students to coincide the curriculum with content area teachers.

“The goals [for the academic year] are exactly the same. We want children to show progress in listening, speaking, reading and writing to become English proficient,” Bates said. “Blandy Hills has been so welcoming, and this administration, faculty and staff has been very welcoming to this program. I’m very excited to begin the year and I cannot wait to see my children; I’ve missed them.”

Of Baldwin High School’s seven new instructors, Bradley Hall walked the halls of his newly renovated home during his second day at school Thursday as he greeted soon-to-be familiar faces.

“I’m trying to meet all the faculty. I’m ready to get started, but there’s still a lot to do before we begin,” the agriculture instructor said. “I have to establish a room, the retired teachers’ monument needs some beautification and lots of other projects around campus need to be [completed].”

Hailing from Tift County High School, Northeast Campus in Tifton, Hall believes Baldwin High could provide him with an opportunity to get back into the field of agriculture.

“Before Tifton, I taught in Costa Rica. This has been a very humbling experience because I had some sort of idea of what I was getting into before I went to Costa Rica and here, I’m walking into it blind,” he said. “[Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Director] Teresa Phillips and [Principal] Dr. [Jessica] Swain have been very accommodating across the board. I’m doing my best to stretch the limited budget provided, but it’s going to take a lot of community support to make sure the agriculture program is strong.”

Master Chief Mark Brown, 24-year U.S. Navy retiree, also made his way to the local community two weeks ago from Abbeville, Ala., to become the NJROTC naval science instructor at the high school. In this down economy, he feels fortunate to bring his expertise and background to his new school family.

“I’m proud to be here in this fine facility. I’m very impressed with the community and parents. The cadet staff [is comprised of] fine young people, and I’m looking forward to working with them,” Brown said. “I’m getting to know the faculty and meeting with the cadet staff. I’m always looking at academics first, so initially I won’t change anything; I’ll go with the flow and see what things are working, which seems to be working because they’ve got a pretty good history.”

Coming from a small school system that downsized, Brown decided to search for career opportunities that would keep his passion alive.

“They were downsizing in my school district because of attrition, so we lost our ROTC program. I began searching and I had the opportunity to interview here. I left a great bunch of kids to work with a great bunch of kids,” he said. “Working with youth in this program keeps me young. I’m just pumped for the new school year.”

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