There are 318 teachers new to Lincoln Public Schools this year — including 158 in their first year of teaching. Starting this week, they'll be jumping into a year that will be crucial for schools. The Journal Star met with a few of them earlier this month to get to know them. (Interviews have been edited for length and clarity).
Kelly Hartman
School:Â Kloefkorn Elementary
³Ò°ù²¹»å±ð:ÌýKindergarten
How'd you get here: A Firth native and Norris High School grad, Hartman graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in December 2020. Hartman was a student teacher at Kloefkorn in the fall of 2020 and was a teacher associate at Roper Elementary last spring.
On becoming a teacher:Â My mom was a teacher growing up, and I struggled a lot in school and I had a lot of good people in my corner to back me up and to make me feel successful. So I wanted to be a teacher so I could help out all kids, because all children are worthy of success.
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On teachers' roles in the pandemic:Â So many times in our student-teaching, I wanted it to be the way that it was when I was in school, and it just made me realize how much things have changed, but for the better, and how I can use these changes to make learning the best place for kids.
I remember when I walked into my student-teaching and there were the masks and there were the mandates and there were the different procedures that we needed to follow, but regardless of any of that, I told myself that I wanted it to be the best year for kids. I wanted the things that they remember to not be that it was a pandemic year or not that they had to wear masks or not that these things were different or they couldn’t play at recess with their friends, but how can I make this the best year for kids? And so it's constantly thinking, "What would make this awesome for them, what would make it memorable for them?"
On catching up students: I remember speaking with a first-grade teacher at Roper and when kids came into first grade last year, their kindergarten year got cut short. And so for 11, 12 years, teachers are going to be teaching those kids that missed that chunk of their learning. So that was just a big "wow" for me.
If it weren't for teaching ...: I would be a pediatrician. I love helping kids and working with people and helping my community.
A teacher who inspired you:Â Jan Zink, my sophomore biology teacher at Norris. She was just as quirky as she was intelligent. She was always telling us stories and that just made me feel so comfortable with her and it just let me know a little piece into her life. I know when I go into my first year of teaching, I want to be telling a lot of stories to my new friends in kindergarten, and I can't wait to hear their stories, too.
The one classroom item you can't live without:Â My classroom library. Books are such an awesome resource in our classroom. And luckily for me, I have such a diverse library for my kids to choose from. Books are really good windows into the world that we live in.