Catching Their Backs

New teachers know the terror of stepping into the classroom for the first time. No matter how talented they are, many need help when the going gets tough. And across the country they're getting it—through their Association. Here's how that support has helped some Nebraska newbies survive and thrive.

By Dave Winans

Photos by Earl Richardson

To watch English teacher Wendy Grojean walk confidently down the halls of Bellevue East High School in Bellevue, Nebraska, is to witness a picture of sheer determination. Enthusiastic, direct, and clearly respected by students—it's hard to imagine that just four years ago Grojean was new to the game, and enduring bigtime stress. For starters, "I was 21 and was told I looked very young," Grojean says with a wince. "I used to wear my ID lanyard all the time." Then, she says, there were the sobering challenges of classroom organization and management and "getting ahold of complex rules and policies, paperwork and special ed procedures, tardy referrals, and so on."

Grojean bravely tried to control a situation that controlled her, wearing eyeglasses, suits, and that look. "I tried to be harsh and authoritarian with students, but it just wasn't me," she recalls with a sigh.

The tale was similar for Brad Wellmann, now a second-year teacher at Fort Crook Elementary. Calm, methodical, and as determined to master his situation as Grojean, Wellmann grappled mightily with the high demands that come with the curriculum new teachers have to teach. But not just that. "A child actually pounded his head on his desk—in the first hour of my first day!" he recalls.

Such "new-teacher-in-terror" stories, the two soon discovered, were hardly theirs alone. From bad student behavior to absent parents, their peers were facing it all, too. And not always to a good end. As Bellevue Education Association (BEA) building rep Mark Still, a Bellevue East math teacher, put it:  "When parents who were never involved believe what their kid says is true and become super-involved, the new teacher is never right."

Toss in the "time crunch," financial pressures from massive student loans, and the attitude of a handful of vets who tend to doubt new teachers' knowledge and experience, and it was no surprise that Grojean and Wellmann found themselves reaching for support. 

Fortunately for them, they say,  BEA and its state affiliate, the Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA), had their backs, making every difference in their ability to survive—and thrive—in a tough new profession. Now, not only do the two star teachers get admiring nods from their veteran peers; both have felt confident enough to become local Association leaders—Wellmann a BEA executive board member and Grojean a local building rep.

The evolution didn't happen by chance. For years Nebraska Association leaders have been refining the art of attracting and supporting new teachers—spurring them on to activism, too—and what they've created is considered nothing short of a national model. In Bellevue alone, the local has signed up 90 percent of the district's certified staff, including 62 of this year's 64 new teachers. Those stats, says fourth-grade teacher Wellmann, a former NEA Student Program activist, made a huge impression when he was hired. "When people feel alone, they start to feel intimidated," he notes. "I knew how strong as a whole we were. I accepted a building rep position on my second day."

Power in Numbers

Fact is, high membership and teacher support go together like a hand and glove in the Cornhusker State. Carmen Quesada, NEA's director of national membership strategy, calls the phenomenon Nebraska's "culture of membership," fastidiously created over time. "Members ask members to join the Association, making it 'unacceptable' to be a non-member," she says.

That's the story in South Sioux City, Nebraska, where the NSEA local affiliate has signed up 93 percent of its teacher potential, and third-year elementary behavior disorder teacher Jerad Wulf feels confident enough to serve as local vice president. Wulf, age 25, agrees "there's an expectation here that you will join and you will see the benefits."

Those benefits include clout. As a union advocate trained by NSEA, Wulf knows how to assist new teachers and vets "in the most unpleasant times." And he's proud of a local communications strategy that keeps newbies "well-informed" (a priority for younger folks) and generates favorable local press coverage of teachers' work. And not to forget a political action program that recently helped elect a pro-public education school board candidate by more than 1,000 votes.

Farther south in Bellevue, the high-membership BEA has consistently helped elect an activist school board that supports the work of Superintendent John Deegan. He's a 34-year district employee who maintains a strong working relationship with the union— "my job just gets easier working with the teachers' Association"—and a firm conviction that "you should treat new teachers the way you'd want to be treated."

Deegan, who advises all new hires to join BEA, supports "fair pay" for new teachers and says he recognizes their need for opportunities to transfer and change, to get training, and to maintain communication with the district. So far, it shows. The Bellevue district and BEA have bargained Nebraska's highest starting teacher salary, a $4,000 annual "professional stipend" for personal use, and an August paycheck for financially pressed new hires. Moreover, the district provides a mentor to every arriving teacher (regardless of past experience), provides all necessary classroom supplies, and shields new hires from mandatory, time-consuming committee work.

Classroom Victories

The benefits have been evident for Grojean and Wellmann as they've navigated their way through the classrooms of Nebraska's third largest school district. Observe these young educators and the first thing you'll notice is meticulous organization of everything from their classroom set-up to the way they guide students from one activity through another. Theirs is a world of binders, folders, checked-off daily agendas, multiple handwritten drafts, and just the right words to keep everybody on track—be it a "nicely done" for Grojean's high schoolers or a simple "good job" for Wellmann's fourth-graders.

It's also an atmosphere with high expectations, mutual trust, and the common understanding that students can be teachers, too. This new generation of teachers, after all, was groomed to learn by doing—often in collaboration—rather than by simply observing a lecturer.

In Grojean's freshman English classes at Bellevue East, students don't just read and analyze Great Expectations. They also break up into groups, research aspects of the Victorian Era (such as its brutal penal system), and teach each other what they've learned with Microsoft PowerPoint. The teacher's goal: Hold students accountable to peers as "subject experts," get them to take homework seriously, and get them excited about what they're learning.

Above all else, Grojean aims to prepare her freshmen for "their later years of high school and the real world," and to teach them accountability. "That requires me to be very organized, on top of things," she says.

In his class at Fort Crook Elementary, Wellmann also instills "self-organization" in students, through devices such as a take-home binder containing the week's important papers. "That way, kids will always have something they can practice on," he explains. And when this soft-spoken teacher's not reminding early test-finishers to "read your personal book," he's modeling civil behavior. "Kimi, make sure your voice is soft," he'll whisper to a loud talker.

And, like Grojean, Wellmann seeks ways to engage his kids in their own learning, like turning exercises from a language arts book into a Jeopardy! game, with eager teams of kids waging money on categories— "Abbreviated and compound nouns for $800!"—and everybody scrutinizing everybody else's answers and reasoning.

"Brad's doing a bang-up job in the classroom," says fifth-grade teacher Lois Dalton, who mentored Wellmann in his first year. "He's very organized, the parents seem to like him, and the kids love him—he could have mentored me!" jokes the 26-year vet. "And I've noticed this organization with a couple of other new teachers in our school. They're great with discipline, they're on top of things, and they're very well-prepared."

But such successes, say local Association leaders, can only continue if newer Bellevue teachers—and fellow newbies everywhere—start assuming leadership roles like Grojean and Wellmann. "We're trying to train new [activists] as we veterans leave the profession," says BEA Treasurer Yvonne Goodman, a 26-year English teacher at Bellevue West Senior High. "We need to make sure this union remains viable."

But BEA shouldn't have a problem.

Bellevue has plenty of enthusiastic new teachers, and "strong Association leaders are generally good teachers—risk-takers who are willing to go the extra mile," observes BEA President Julee Boeshart, a 14-year English teacher at Bellevue East. And better yet, adds NSEA UniServ Director Jackee Wise, BEA has "lots of strong leaders who share the work, support and protect one another, and allow newer folks to feel comfortable."

And that, she says, is what a union is all about.

Nuggets for Newbies:
What They Don't Teach You in College

How can brand-new educators survive and thrive? Some suggestions from young Nebraska Association leaders who were in those shoes not so long ago:

FIND SOME BALANCE. After four years of teaching eighth-grade pre-algebra and language arts in Millard, Molly Erickson has learned to ease up and smell the roses. "Remember, you're there for the kids—they're your best reward and the reason you're there," she reminds newbies. "Don't get wrapped up in the stress of events, of grading, and find a sense of balance. Don't work until 6 each night and take your work home; find some balance, some time for yourself. And establish classroom rules at the beginning—be fair, firm, and consistent. And if you have questions about discipline, talk to the administration; let them know where you're at."

FIND THE REAL YOU. "Take a while to find yourself in the classroom; life becomes easier," says Bellevue high school English teacher Wendy Grojean. "To keep up your enthusiasm, change something—your curriculum or your grade level. If you're young-looking, dress professionally and let students know from the get-go that you won't tolerate disrespect, improper behavior, or inappropriate questions about your social life."

THINK BEFORE YOU ASK. New teachers nowadays tend to be more assertive and ask more questions than the vets. So Carrie Sheppard, who teaches English at Battle Creek (Nebraska) Elementary, warns new educators to "learn whom to ask, and when to ask for it—it takes time to learn." But never, she adds, "be afraid to ask questions about the Association. Another person will have the same questions."

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Some vets assume that new teachers are unrealistic, idealistic, and don't have the mileage to know what they're doing. "People my age sometimes feel intimidated by vets," says Jerad Wulf, an elementary behavior disorder teacher in South Sioux City. "To be credible, you've got to let people know what you know. Let them know you're confident in your abilities, that you were were hired for a reason, and that you are an expert in your position. In fact, other teachers ask me for advice on dealing with difficult children."

STRETCH YOURSELF. Newer teachers should change teaching methods and classroom organization a little bit at a time—and gather a variety of experiences, advises Bellevue fourth-grade teacher Brad Wellmann. "Your kids aren't the same year after year," he notes, "so how can you be a quality teacher if you stay the same?" Wellmann has avoided landing in a fourth-grade "rut" by teaching younger kids in summer school and working with school "spirit team" members of different ages. "I don't feel I get burned out as much," he finds, "and I know more people in the building just because I'm involved in more pieces of education." 

Molly Erickson advises new teachers to not "get wrapped up in the stress of events" and to find some balance in their lives.

Go to NEA's Student Program for teaching resources and information.