Now you can tell the teachers from the kids

By Emily Richmond

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Nary a toe ring was seen. Belly buttons were covered. The beach shoes had, apparently, been left at the beach.

All in all, it was a good sign for Clark County public school students.

The School District’s newest teachers, who showed up for their orientation session Wednesday, looked quite different from those who attended in past years. This class was a little older, seemed more poised, even mature. Most were dressed professionally.

Clearly, Clark County School District recruiters were more selective this year. They could afford to be. The economic downturn has slowed growth so sharply that the district was forced to recruit just 995 new teachers, about a third the number it had to find just two years ago.

Marsha Irvin, superintendent of the district’s northeast region, remembers walking into the session at Cox Pavilion last year and wondering if she was in the right place. On Wednesday, she looked around the room and was pleased.

“They look like professionals,” Irvin said. “They’ve come ready to go to work.”

To be sure, teacher welcome luncheons in past years never descended into frat house barbecues. But the newbies — many fresh out of college — had worn sloppy, cut-off jeans, flip-flops and naval-baring shirts. Some were virtually indistinguishable from the high school students they would teach.

The district has always made its position clear — the first day of orientation is your first day on the job and you should dress and behave appropriately. But every year, some didn’t seem to get the message.

No one the Sun spoke with was sure what spurred the change. The district made no attempt to encourage more professional attire this year, said Martha Tittle, the district’s human resources chief.

Regardless, school officials delight in the change.

“They are focused and attentive,” said Karyn Wright, the district’s director of teacher induction and mentoring. “It’s impressive and encouraging.”

The district has long struggled to do a better job of keeping its new teachers. If history holds, half of this year’s rookies will leave within five years.

“Maybe this is going to be another little side benefit of our slower growth,” Clark County School Board Vice President Terri Janison said. “We have a chance to get off to a better start with our new teachers, and we’ll keep them longer.”

Age may have something to do with it. While many of the faces in the crowd were clearly newly minted college grads, a larger proportion seemed to be experienced educators.

Of course the veterans may have been easier to spot. This year the incoming teachers were broken into two groups of 450.

John Jasonek, executive director of the teachers union, which co-sponsors the orientations, remembers when the new teachers were in three groups of 900 each.

Aside from orientation, representatives of local businesses and service groups waited at display tables, and it was a refreshing change to see enough goodies to go around.

In the past, huge crowds have been known to descend like biblical locusts, with insatiable appetites for pencils, key chains and stress balls. In a particularly memorable year, word quickly spread about white toy ducks that quacked “AFLAC!” when squeezed. The insurance company’s table was quickly stripped bare.

John Berkhoff, an insurance and financial planning representative for Horace Mann Insurance, much prefers the smaller scene. He waited at the company’s table for the midmorning break, when the new hires would have a chance to stretch their legs.

“This is less chaotic,” Berkhoff said. “It’s easier to take a minute and really talk to them. Usually it’s just a herd of people, rushing by.”