Othello schools introduce new staff

Five members added

OTHELLO - The Othello school board met some of the district's newest staff members Monday.

Hiawatha Elementary School Principal Scott Pass, Lutacaga Elementary School Principal Aurora Garza, McFarland Junior High School Principal Dennis Adams introduced new staff at a board meeting.

New ALPS school principal Leonard Lusk, who was previously principal of Warden High School, was also introduced.

Pass said he is glad to see increased staff retention compared with last year. This year, the school hired five new staff members, compared with nine last year.

"It's been really neat to see our staff be here a second year for a lot of them, and also to have some new staff," Pass said.

Pass said the school sought candidates who were qualified, would do a great job and who could be retained.

Staff members spoke of highlights of their jobs and challenges they faced.

"At Hiawatha, I've never had anybody say anything other than positive, good things to me," said fifth-grade teacher Brenda Peterson.

Peterson said one of her biggest challenges is making her workday shorter.

Sue Adams, a new fifth-grade teacher at Hiawatha, said she received plenty of training during the summer to learn about the new science kits.

"I really enjoy working with the students and interacting with them and finding out, trying to get inside their head and get them exciting about learning because I love learning and I love books," Adams said.

She said a challenge is seeing a child give up on learning.

"That part hurts me because kids come excited to learn, they're born excited about learning, and it makes me sad to think that something happened to destroy that," she said.

Adams said she would like to be able to spend more time one-on-one with students.

Garza said Lutacaga had three new teachers this year, compared with nine or 10 last year.

Jodie Burpee expressed enthusiasm for her first teaching position.

"I have an amazing class," Burpee said. "They challenge me every single day, but I enjoy them every single day. I never leave the classroom without a smile on my face," she said.

Pete Perez was introduced as the new assistant principal at Lutacaga. He divides his time between the elementary school and Othello High School.

"Being in two buildings is very, very difficult," Perez said. "Being in two spots has been a learning experience for me."

McFarland Junior High School Principal Dennis Adams said he was excited about the new teachers joining his school.

"They've really been a great addition to our staff," Adams said.

He introduced about nine new staff members to McFarland.

Lusk said he is new to the district as ALPS principal. He introduced a new teacher at ALPS, David Spencer.

"He's unique in a lot of ways because he wants to be an alternative teacher and signed on to be an alternative teacher," Lusk said.