School district welcomes 1,200 new faces

Terry Webster

Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 11:38 a.m.

Inside a portable classroom filled with empty, mismatched desks and tattered chairs, teacher Mollie Lyman can see a lot of potential.

A new fourth grade teacher at Ruby Thomas Elementary School, Lyman says she insisted on working with inner-city children.

"I want to make a difference," she said. "I want to be a part of that."

Lyman, one of 1,200 teachers hired for the upcoming school year in the Clark County School District, began her quest this week by setting up her classroom for the first day of school on Aug. 28.

"I'm a little nervous, but really excited," she said. "Some of the kids are going to be just as new as me, so I guess we'll all be in this together."

Having counseled middle and high school students with severe behavior problems, Lyman says she knows how to reach children.

"After doing that I actually woke up one day and decided I wanted to be a teacher," said Lyman, who gained the counseling experience while student teaching.

At Ruby Thomas, she will attempt to break through barriers like a 68 percent transiency rate and an English language learner population of about 41 percent.

"I know a little Spanish so I should be OK," she said. "Plus, they have an (English Language Learner) program here."

Lyman, who hails from Seattle, had several other teaching position offers but decided Las Vegas "is the place to be right now."

"The district is growing so fast and down the road I'd really like to get into administration," she said.

The school district, the sixth largest in the nation, is expected to enroll 231,028 students this year.

Continuing today, the district's 1,200 new teachers are completing their settling-in phase in Las Vegas with an orientation conference at the Rio hotel-casino. The district employs a total of about 13,600 full-time teachers.

As the district continues to grow, its base of experienced teachers is shrinking, said John Jasonek, executive director of the Clark County Education Association.

Jasonek attributes much of that to high turnover, which he traces back to 1993. According to his study, over 40 percent of the 2,000 teachers hired in 1993 have already left the district.

"It's a big concern," he said.

By 2002, Jasonek said, half of the district's teachers could have less than five years of classroom experience.

"Teachers turn to other teachers for help," Jasonek said.

"There aren't a lot of people to mentor them. At some of these schools, they ask another teacher, 'What do you do,' and they say, 'Well, I'm new, too.' "

Support from administrators and the community, along with better compensation, will help keep good teachers in the district, Jasonek said.

Sue Strand, president of the Clark County Education Association, sees other issues that make it challenging for first-year teachers.

"It's certainly not the majority, but there are those who won't even make it through the first month," she said. "We are an urban school district. They are not prepared for kids moving in and out, they are not prepared for kids coming in and not being ready to read or ready to learn. They are prepared for it educationally, but it's not what they expect."

Lyman said she knows it won't be easy -- but adds that she is still excited about the challenge ahead.

"Every kid is different," she said. "You can tell some of them just need a hug. For others, it's a matter of building up that trust."