The start of school is often focused on students and their needs. While students talk about what each teacher is like, few students care to ask how the instructors feel about being back at school.
Though many educators enjoy the summer break as much of the students, they are genuinely happy about being back at school for one reason, the students. The feelings seem to be mutual, “I can’t speak for the entire student body, but my students seem excited to be back,” said child development/education teacher Jennifer Houston.
Even teachers new to Timber Creek seem to be enjoying the start of the year. Latin teacher Daniel Germain is among those new instructors, joining the staff after teaching English at Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
“It’s nice to be teaching Latin again because that’s what I’ve always wanted to teach and it’s much easier to come to school every day when you love what you are teaching,” said Germain.
Administrators have set their expectations high for the students this year. “Last year our students volunteered over 6,000 hours,” said Hemann, “I would like to see us increase that this year and I know we can.”
New and returning teachers and administrators face changes in the classroom. This year the school is adopting the Common Core Standards (CCS). According the CCS Initiative, classes are “designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in colleges and careers.”
Essentially, the 48 states that have adopted CCS have similar curriculum, so students in Rhode Island will learn the same skills as students in Florida. While many students are unfamiliar with the change, many teachers have been using the new standards in their lesson planning for the current school year.
