First-year Jaguars take to the classroom
At the end of the 2023-24 school year, Cedar Shoals had over 30 staff who would not be returning. Of the 30 new replacement staff hired at Cedar this year, 12 are first-year educators.
The University of Georgia’s education program ranks 30th in the nation, and partners with Clarke County School District to place student teachers in classrooms.
The choice of where to begin one’s teaching career impacts how new educators perceive the realities of being a teacher. Nate Wood, now a 10th-grade English teacher after attending UGA, was formerly Brent Andrews’ student teacher. Compared to the other schools Wood has visited, he finds the way teachers care for their students at Cedar to be unmatched.
“Most schools see students as a number or a grade, but I think at Cedar, we really acknowledge how everyone brings something different to the table,” Wood said.
The transition from student teaching to full-time involves lessons that can only be learned through experience. For Wood, experience has shown him that although the content is important, the most important thing in the classroom is the relationship between students and teachers.
“You never know what is happening behind the scenes. You never know how it is at home. I want my class to be the one hour of the day where they can feel safe and comfortable, by having a little bit of grace for everyone. Making the relationship between student and teacher more of an ‘I learn something from you and you learn something from me,’” Wood said.
WORKING WITH A SMILE: 10th grade English teacher Nate Wood explains work to a student who wasn’t in class when it was assigned. This is something he often does for his students to make sure they are always on task and succeeding in the classroom. “it’s a good job. It’s a very rewarding job. It’s challenging, but it’s rewarding,” Wood said. Photo by Gretta Garrett
Being closer in age to students can both help and hurt the way younger teachers are perceived. Having grown up with similar experiences regarding things like phones and easily available tech, Wood finds that he is more understanding when students are distracted in class. He knows that most of the time the distraction doesn’t necessarily come with disrespectful intent.
Although he is more understanding, it is also harder to be perceived as an authority figure compared with older staff.
“I’m not a very confrontational person. Being a new teacher and being a young teacher, sometimes it’s hard to be taken seriously,” Wood said.
After student teaching last year in Hannah Doolittle’s classroom, Perla Villatoro, a first-year 10th grade English teacher, joined the same grade level team.
Villatoro always enjoyed reading and writing until her first two years of high school when she began to lose interest in them. Villatoro recalls her own experiences as a high school student and how her previous English teacher temporarily stopped her passion for the subject.
“I reflected a lot on that experience I had with my ninth and 10th-grade teacher, and I really thought about the position that other kids who still have that same teacher are in. It’s continuing — I want to change that,” Villatoro said.
For Wood, helping the community in and around Cedar Shoals is what he wants to do with his teaching position.
“The idea that I can come and make people smile, and that most of my job is just helping people get by,” Wood said.
