New teacher orientation displays excitement, outlines plan to teach during pandemic

Teachers in Lee County are preparing for a brand new school year. WINK News spoke to some new teachers and they have a message for parents.

368 new Lee County teachers arrived at district headquarters for what amounts to their first day of school.

So, WINK News reporter Sydney Persing got to know some of those men and women who could possibly be teaching your children this coming fall.

Reannan Cote explains what inspired her to educate the next generation. Cote is from Illinois. “So my younger sister has Down syndrome. She had some amazing teachers and I saw what they did for our family,” she said. “And so I always told myself that if I could do for one kid what they did for our family then that was exactly what I was meant to do.”

Pamela Clough is from Manatee County. She explains how she’ll help students who may have fallen behind during remote learning.

“I’m going to start with data day one, as soon as the students come in, I’m going to see where they’re at where we start, and where we can move forward from that. So it’s going to be a lot of differentiated instruction,” she said.

Some of these new teachers aren’t coming from other places but are straight from school. Their excitement is visible, palpable and endearing. Hannah Hilbert and Abigail Rebar are two of those teachers.

“Just starting to like, really be a real teacher,” said Hilbert.

No matter who they are or where they come from or what grade they’ll be teaching, they’re excited. Michelle Leccesse is another teacher. “I’m just super excited to start the year,” she said.

These new teachers cannot wait another minute to be teaching your children.

While there have been 368 new teachers hired in the School District of Lee County, the district is still experiencing a teacher shortage. Lee County hires teachers year-round.