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New teachers join Marshalltown ranks

T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS
First-year Fisher kindergarten teacher Lauren McKibben gets her class excited with a counting activity.

Years of education and hard work are beginning to pay off for dozens of new Marshalltown Schools teachers just wrapping up their first week on the job.

Most of this year’s new crop of instructors comes from within Iowa, and even a few from the Marshalltown community itself. Each has their own reasons for wanting to teach and take their knowledge and skills to Marshalltown.

“My family is full of educators, and I just really enjoy working with kids and having an influence on their life,” said Lenihan Intermediate School sixth grade teacher Sydney Pitstick.

She comes to Marshalltown after recently earning a degree from Coe College in Cedar Rapids. Pitstick made the journey from her home of Marion to Marshalltown because of the attitudes among teachers she met at the district.

“When I interviewed at Lenihan, I got a good sense of community and the teachers just seemed happy to be there and excited to answer my questions,” she said. “There didn’t seem to be any hesitations. They seemed very open to me and I wanted to be part of a district where the teachers got along and they were there for the students.”

While some teachers came to a new environment in Marshalltown, others are right at home. One such person is Lauren McKibben, who teachers kindergarten at Fisher Elementary.

“Going into college, my goal was to come back here and teach,” the University of Northern Iowa grad said. “I really want to give back to community. (Marshalltown Schools) just did a phenomenal job getting me prepared for the real world.”

McKibben said it also feels good to be teaching kindergartners, as that was another career goal she wanted to achieve.

“For a lot of them, this is their first year. I want to be the one that gets them excited for the rest of their school years,” she said.

Another Marshalltown native who made his way back home to teach is Miller Middle School seventh grade science teacher Dalton Ernst, an Iowa State University graduate.

“I love science education. I think scientific literacy is important in our society as a whole,” he said. “That’s meaningful to me and so that’s why I pursue it.”

Ernst said Marshalltown still feels like home and he has a lot of family in the area.

The first week of school is a time for transition for everyone involved – parents, students, teachers and school administrators. The new crop of teachers had positive feedback from the first week.

“It’s definitely a lot. I’m really happy, actually, with how my day-to-day experiences with my kids have gone,” Ernst said. “It’s certainly a lot of work and a lot of kids to teach, but I’m getting the hang of it.”

Pitstick said she has enjoyed learning about her new students.

“I’ve loved getting to know the students in my classroom and to see their individual personalities start to show,” she said. “I’m just eager to get started and get going in the routine.”

McKibben said her first week with the kindergartners has been a good one.

“It’s something I look forward to coming to every day, and a lot of people can’t say that about their job,” she said.

The new crop of about 50 new educators at Marshalltown Schools join a total of about 400 at the district, per 2018-19 district numbers.

Statewide, Iowa Department of Education data shows more than 37,000 teachers at more than 300 public school districts and area education agencies.

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