New teachers already feel at home

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009

"I have a really good group of students … and I have a very good instructional aide working with me, and she knows the students so that helps a lot," said Joann Bostic, a first-year fifth grade teacher at Calvert Country School in Prince Frederick.

It was not so long ago, Bostic said, that she was an instructional assistant herself in Delaware, and she is thrilled to finally have her own classroom.

"It's a neat feeling to go in there and know that it is yours," said Bostic, who is currently commuting from Anne Arundel County and plans to make a permanent move to Calvert County later this month.

She said she was introduced to the position at Calvert Country, a special education school, at a job fair at The University of Delaware.

"I really liked the school and the program and the type of students," said Bostic, who majored in elementary education and minored in special education in college.

" … And the salary is good and the area itself is very nice," she said.

Though she attended the new teacher orientation, Annette Quigg is hardly a rookie in the classroom; the new Huntingtown High School reading teacher has taught for 14 years.

She will be instructing a new reading program for freshmen that Huntingtown High is launching, and said, "So far here at Huntingtown, the people have been awesome. They've been very, very helpful in supporting me."

Having taught all through Maryland in St. Mary's, Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties, Quigg said that she has already noticed a difference while working in Calvert.

"It seems their administration is very supportive of the teachers and it sure is nice that [the county's] pay is better," said Quigg, who explained that she still was required to attend new teacher training, "just to learn more specifics about the county."

She said that despite being a new teacher in a new classroom, her first day of teaching went smoothly.

"My first day with kids was awesome … the kids were very excited. They were a little lost because they're freshmen, but I was able to comfort them by saying ‘Hey, I'm new too,'" Quigg said.

Despite never having taught at Plum Point Middle School, first-year functional living teacher Jody Davidson knew a thing or two about the school; she is an alumna.

After having taught U.S. history and supervising a female dorm at an independent school for children with language-based learning disabilities, Davidson said in an e-mail that she, her husband and daughter moved back to Calvert County to be closer to family.

To prepare for her new position, Davidson said, "I prayed daily — for wisdom, patience, encouragement, creativity, and a continued dedication to the education of students.

"I also did a lot of research — IEPs, current levels of performance, progress reports, curriculum summaries, etc. to help reacquaint myself with the materials, computer programs, and other items that I may use in my classroom," said Davidson, who wrote in the e-mail that she also met with and "picked the brain" of Plum Point colleagues.

Davidson also said that on her first day, "I kept wondering who was more nervous: me or the students? After the students got in and were settled, it was as if I have known them for a while."

lbuck@somdnews.com