By midday, the clinicians
already had seen 40 students, with another 30 in line. By the time the clinic
was scheduled to end at 3 p.m., it’s possible nearly 100 students had received
athletic physicals for fall sports or been given various vaccinations or
booster shots.
It is
the second free mobile medical clinic offered in the district since late May.
About 70 students were seen at the first one and it appeared even more were
treated Wednesday.
The fact
that Wednesday’s event overlapped with Coyote Call no doubt increased activity
at the clinic. With exactly a week before classes resume Aug. 7, middle and
high school students were on campus Wednesday to get their schedules and sign
up for clubs.
This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20
Family: Husband, Lee and children,
Lucas, Logan and Rachel
School: Denair Elementary Charter
Academy
Subject taught: Transitional kindergarten
Experience and education: BA from CSU
Stanislaus, 13 years teaching preschool at Denair State Preschool. Currently
completing preservice and then IMPACT program at TCSJ (Teachers College of San
Joaquin).
What
attracted you to Denair? DECA incorporates many
wonderful programs such as PBIS, Academic Adventures and the Character Bound
program along with college awareness as part of the learning culture. I love the small-town feel, my amazing co-workers
and the families that make up our school community. I am also an alumni (DHS class
of 1992), member of the community and our three children all graduated from
Denair.
Why most inspires you
about teaching? I
absolutely love my students; they inspire me every day. Observing children
utilize their critical thinking skills, collaborating, communicating and being
creative while engaging in hands-on activities is inspiring. Seeing how they
grow and learn through the year always amazes me.
What is a challenge
you look forward to tackling this year? Going
from a part-day program to a full-day will be something new for me this year as
well as new curriculum.
What is your favorite
teaching tool or activity? Integrating
STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities during free
choice is a great way for students to use their critical thinking skills and
creativity. When used in small groups, students then practice collaborating
with others and building communication skills.
What do you want your
students to remember? I
want students to remember that their TK class was a safe, welcoming and engaging
space to come to school and their teacher was caring and fun.
How can parents
support what you do? Fill your child with a love of learning by showing interest, asking them
questions and encouraging them. Read to your child and foster a love of
reading.
What would surprise
people about your job? I
think people would be surprised how much time educators spend outside of class
time attending professional development and planning engaging classroom
activities. What
do you do for fun? I love to spend time
reading, traveling and spending time with family and friends.
This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20
Family: I am married. I have two boys.
Seth is 9 and Blake is 7. Both of them attend DECA.
School: Denair High School
Subject taught: Special education
moderate/severe 9-12 grade as well as adult transition.
Experience and education: Graduated
from Denair High School. Went to Modesto Junior College before transferring to
University of Phoenix. I was a para-educator for Turlock School District for 15
years, working with moderate/severe students at the junior high level.
What
attracted you to Denair? I attended Denair in elementary, middle school and
high school. Denair is my hometown and a place that will always be dear to me.
When I noticed they had a job opening to teach special education, I quickly
applied. I am back to where it all started for me. It is a great place to raise
a family and I am blessed to now be a part of the staff here in Denair.
Why
most inspires you about teaching? Teaching is such a rewarding career.
My students inspire me daily. My students inspire me to do my best and
demonstrate the best version of myself each day I walk into my class. When I see my students’ growth — even if
it’s something small — it makes a difference in them and that’s why I am here
for my students’ success!
What
is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? This is my
first year teaching and I know I will be faced with many challenges. In special
education, you work with many different individuals who service our students. I
think that scheduling meetings and service times within my classroom will be
the most challenging for me, but I am going to do my best to communicate with
and accommodate everyone on my team and meet the needs of my students.
What
is your favorite teaching tool or activity? I love teaching my
students life skills. I like them to be productive and show independence. My life skills lessons are my favorite
because the students are able to take these activities and use them to help at
home or even find a job placement in the future.
What
do you want your students to remember? I want my students to remember
to work hard and never give up. Success is not measured in size, but how hard
you worked to get there!
How
can parents support what you do? I believe that parents can support what I
do by reinforcement of what is being done at school and implement that at home
as well. Parents need to be a part of the child’s education and being involved
is important. I believe having parents
on board with your classroom program is helpful in building relationships.
What
would surprise people about your job? Every day is a new adventure =)What
do you do for fun? I love to be with my
family and friends. I enjoy exercising and going to the gym. My boys are in
sports and I love going to their games and being the team mom. I also enjoy
shopping and being in the sun.
This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20
Family: Daughter: Brie, Sons: Isaac and
Logan, Dog: Butters, Cat: Peanut
School: Denair Middle School
Subject taught: Seventh- and
eighth-grade math
Experience and education: Two years
teaching sixth grade. BA from Western Governors University in 2017. Currently
pursuing a master’s in mathematics education.
What
attracted you to Denair? I was raised in a small town, Midland, Texas. I
love that Denair is a small town and tight-knit community. It’s the kind of
place I want to be a part of and raise my children in.
Why
most inspires you about teaching? Being allowed to the privilege to
shape the minds, ethics and morality of children. Educating a child in math is
my first priority. Setting an example for them as an adult is a close second.
It’s important for children to hear that everyone is valued and equal, but they
need to see it in practice, too. The only people who spend more time with
children are their parents. Teachers have a priceless influence on children and
I want my influence to be of compassion, justice and kindness.
What
is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? I will be
teaching my own child for the first time this year. I expect that to be
challenging, but ultimately rewarding.
What
is your favorite teaching tool or activity? I LOVE real-world
application activities. I think that students gain a deeper understanding,
especially in math, when they can see how it applies to real life and how
they’ll use what we’re learning about as time goes on.
What
do you want your students to remember? I want them to remember to be
kind to others. Take the high road every time. It’s not always about winning or
being right; being kind is just as important.
How
can parents support what you do? I think that parents can do the most by
being open and honest with their children, in an age-appropriate way, of
course. It’s easy to tell our kids little white lies about why they should do
what we say or why the world is what it is. I challenge parents to take the
path least traveled and level with your kids. Explain to them why, how or what
for whenever possible. We can’t treat them like children for 17 years and 364
days and expect them to be ready for adulthood on their 18th birthday. We need
to put in the difficult work now.
What
would surprise people about your job? Teachers spend a lot of time
teaching children how to resolve problems. Conflicts are inevitable in a
setting where people are put together in one room, or school, and come from
many backgrounds with many different personalities. Throw puberty in the mix
and you get a unique opportunity to shape lives.What
do you do for fun? I spend most of my
time with my kids. I love and collect video games and video game consoles as
well as Nintendo memorabilia. I love to learn so I spend quite a bit of time
reading to learn new things.
This is one in a series of Q&A’s with teachers new to Denair Unified in 2019-20
Family: I grew up with my mom,
step-dad, and older brother
School: Denair High School
Subject taught: Biology, chemistry, anatomy, and physiology
Experience and education: One year of
student teaching. Biology degree from California State University, Monterey Bay.
What
attracted you to Denair? I was attracted to Denair because it was close to
my home, Merced, and it seemed to have a very close-knit community. I love my
family and am looking forward to meeting all of my Denair family as well.
Why
most inspires you about teaching? I have had many amazing teachers in
my life who have pushed me to do well and taught me amazing lessons about both
life and subject matter. I strive to be a positive safe space for students
where they feel comfortable exploring the world and learning all they can about
life and science.
What
is a challenge you look forward to tackling this year? This is my
first year teaching on my own in a classroom; that, in itself, is the most
exciting challenge of my year. I will be excited to learn and grow from this
experience. You can only have one first year!
What
is your favorite teaching tool or activity? My favorite activity in
science has to be labs. Labs are the true essence of science where you can
explore the content and work with materials to help it stick in your brain.
Sience is all about trial and error.
What
do you want your students to remember? I want my students to know it’s
OK to make mistakes and it’s OK to not have everything figured out. School is a
safe place to learn from your mistakes and grow from them. Teachers are there
to guide you and help you learn while you help them learn. Everyone is learning
things their whole life, so it’s OK to be figuring everything out.
How
can parents support what you do? Parents can just do their best at taking
an interest in what their child is learning in school. Having students talk
about material outside of school is a great way for them to retain more
information, almost like a quick informal study session! As long as you support
your child in every way you can, it will be a great year. As parents, you are
free to ask me any questions you have about me or your student; I will help in
any way I can. I like open communication and collaboration.
What
would surprise people about your job? Since it’s my first year, I’m
sure I’m going to find many things that surprise even me about my job, but I
think a lot of people don’t realize how much time setting up a lab takes and
how much supplies you find out you need when you go to do the lab. Labs are the
best part of science, but they are also the hardest thing, as a teacher, to set
up and run. You want to make sure every student is both having fun and safe,
while also trying to fit it into a 50-minute period.What
do you do for fun? In my free time, I
love to play video games, watch shows, swim, go to the beach and listen to
music.
