Jaime Newkirk

Jaime Newkirk always knew that she wanted to be a teacher. As a child growing up in Indiana, South Dakota and North Carolina she “taught” her younger siblings in play school. Jaime’s family is originally from this area and moved back here before her sophomore year and she graduated from NCHS. Her path from Newton graduate to Newton teacher took time. She married, and raised her two boys. But her dreams of teaching never faded. She worked hard, studied, and persevered. Today Ms. Newkirk is in her first year of teaching at Newton Elementary, exactly where she wants to be.

Ms. Newkirk started out as a paraprofessional and worked with students referred for behavioral intervention. She initially worked under Jessie Smith, a social worker, and found that experience to be completely “life-changing.” Not only did she learn specific skills, strategies and techniques for successful behavioral intervention but Ms. Smith shared her philosophy and approach to working with these students. She taught her “so much about why kids behave the way they do.” One of her key takeaways: don’t focus on the behavior but seek to understand the reasons behind the behavior. Too many students have been labeled as “bad kids” but they aren’t. They just had needs that weren’t being met. She focused on whatever students needed help with on any given day: interacting with peers; controlling emotions; or managing impulses, for example.

The skills and understanding she gained from this period serve her well as a classroom teacher. One thing she learned was to “set expectations (of students) early.” That works well with third graders and has meant that students rarely act out in her class. They are currently working on multiplication and learning how to write first person narratives. Teaching writing is one of Jaime’s strong interests as it is such an essential skill throughout life. We discuss how much of an impact third grade teachers make in their students’ lives.

Teaching in a small community means that Ms. Newkirk gets to know her students and families well. She knows their backstories and what outside factors or pressures students might be dealing with outside of the classroom that affect their school experience. “I find out what they need and if I can’t get it for them, I find someone who can,” and she notes, “there’s always someone… our school’s amazing in that way.” Since her sons, now 11 and 16, attend school in the district. Jaime finds it comforting to “know that my kids are being taken care of.”

We turn to the question of resources in rural as compared to suburban districts. We agree that while suburban schools may have more course offerings and fancier buildings, rural schools have one intangible quality in abundance: students know their teachers and each other, and are connected. Recent research seems to upend conventional thinking that suburban schools necessarily offer students a more diverse experience. It suggests that students in large schools tend to self-segregate into groups or cliques. In smaller schools, by comparison, students are connected to a broader mix of people—and everyone’s sitting together “elbow to elbow” on the bleachers watching the game. Jaime adds that it’s wonderful to see students’ relationships grow deeper over the years as they advance with the same group of students.

We wrap up by returning to the issue of how Ms. Newkirk honors the school professionals who have made an impact on her life. Starting with her own third grade teacher, who inspired her to want to be a teacher and through to her work with Ms. Smith, the social worker, and on to her sons’ teachers. It is clear to us that Jaime finds and appreciates the value in each of these people. As she says: “they are people that you never forget… that change your life… and make an imprint on it.” We are sure that she is making positive imprints on many students and teachers now, and will continue to do so for many years to come.