 Fifth in a series Two new teachers, teacher-to-be test their knowledge, experience against the reality of the classroom
 Maria J. Avila © News 
Third-grade teacher Erin O'Grady is a bit flustered as students are not focusing during a math lesson at Ebert Elementary School in Denver. "It was difficult to enter a school that had been given the label 'unsatisfactory,' " O'Grady wrote. "I knew we had a huge task ahead."
More photography »
In their own words, new teachers wrap up important first year a little older and wiser
By Julie Poppen News Staff Writer
Dani Broe hasn't yet found a teaching job for the fall. She's spending time with her fiance and waiting for their new home to be built in Superior's Rock Creek area. Stephanie Leija plans to relax as much as possible this summer, gearing up to return to Wheat Ridge Middle School, where she teaches students who are learning English. She became engaged in May. Erin O'Grady is volunteering for a Christian ministry in Palo Alto, Calif., that runs a tutoring program for inner-city kids. In the fall, she'll be back at Denver's struggling Ebert Elementary School teaching a mixed first- and second-grade classroom. These three new Colorado teachers, tracked by the Rocky Mountain News in "Ready, set, teach!'' during the 2001-2002 academic year, are getting a summer reprieve from the classroom. They have an important year now behind them, but statistics suggest that their careers are far from certain. About 22 percent of teachers leave the profession after only three years and 39 percent of teachers quit within five years, said Tom Carroll, executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. The numbers can be much higher in inner-city or rural schools, he said. Several factors are at work: inadequate preparation for the realities of today's classroom, lack of adequate administrative support and low pay compared to other fields. "Many of our bright young teachers who are eager to teach and have a dream of making a difference in a child's life are thrown, sink or swim, into the toughest schools,'' Carroll said. "They tell us they feel isolated and lost at sea.'' Teacher turnover exceeds employee turnover in other jobs, coming in at 14.3 percent per year in one study compared with 11 percent for other occupations. About 19 percent of all new teachers say they are "fairly likely'' or "very likely'' to leave teaching. So far, Broe, Leija or O'Grady aren't deterred by the statistics. Broe, 21, is working part time at a Broomfield day-care center this summer and job hunting. Her final semester at the University of Colorado was spent student teaching fifth-graders at the suburban Arapahoe Ridge Elementary School in Westminster. "Getting that experience while still having a cooperating teacher there to back you up and really support you is irreplaceable,'' Broe said. "Now you're ready to be out there on your own.'' Leija, 28, and O'Grady, 23, just completed their first years as real teachers. Leija, who is earning her teaching license through an alternative program, has two years to go before earning a master's degree in curriculum and instruction with an English as a second language focus from the University of Colorado at Denver. Wheat Ridge Middle is hiring a second ESL teacher, which is a relief for Leija. "My workload will definitely be less,'' Leija said. "Instead of 80 kids (reporting) to me, there will be two people. I can start focusing on individual kids more.'' O'Grady, who taught third grade last year in an inner-city school after graduating from the University of Denver, is eager to switch to teaching younger children. O'Grady said she feels much more comfortable heading back to the classroom for her second year, even though many of the teachers she worked with have left, making her a veteran of sorts. "I have a better idea of what is expected of me and what is expected of the children,'' O'Grady said. Each of the new teachers received positive words from veteran peers and supervisors, each demonstrated dedication and genuine concern. But the one sure thing about their careers at this juncture is that they have begun on their path as Colorado teachers. In the three articles that follow, they describe that journey in their own words. |
Part 5: The three teachers look back on the last year in their own words.
Age: 23
Age: 22
Age: 28 
