August 30, 2024
DULUTH, Minn. - As the kids enjoy the final days of their summer, their teachers have been putting in the work to prepare for this upcoming school year. Teachers from Duluth Public Schools are eager to have kids back in their classroom.
“I love teaching, it’s what I do naturally,” said Tracy Little, a media arts specialists at Ordean-East Middle School.
After teaching in northern Minnesota for the last 19 years, Mrs. Little starts her first year at Ordean-East in just a few days. She hopes that her talents in the arts can connect to her new students, creating a classroom with room for expression and creativity.
“Art is in everything that we embrace in life, and if we don’t have it’s a black and white world,” said Mrs. Little. “I make sure the kids know that they can do art, no matter what it is, I will find that one thing that they can do.”
Being the new teacher on the block can be daunting, but she looks to incorporate more media arts into her teaching to show her students what an appreciation of art can offer.
“This is a new curriculum for the district,” said Mrs. Little. “It’s always been visual art here, so it’s giving them that new opportunity to actually understand video production, just have to get them engaged in what media arts is.”
On top of the traditional mediums of painting, sculpture, and ceramics, her media arts program looks to introduce students to animation, news production, and graphic design.
Meanwhile up the hill at Lowell Elementary, Mrs. Latour’s 3rd Grade Classroom is only days away from being lively with her 25 students.
“Well I’m nervous about the kids liking me, just like they are nervous about me liking them. Are they going to listen to me? Are they going to be willing to learn? But at the same time, I feel that I’m very optimistic about the group of kiddos that I will have,” said Glenda Latour, a third grade Spanish immersion teacher at Lowell Elementary.
After teaching for 14 years between both middle school and high school Mrs. Latour thinks she landed herself her forever home. One that allows her to teach in her first language.
“I teach third grade curriculum reading and writing and math. I honestly can tell you that I see myself retiring doing this,” said Mrs. Latour. “I feel in a position where I get to see how smart, how bright it takes, and how brave those kids are, because it takes you have to be brave to be learning to read and write in another language.”
But just like these two teachers have found their place in the world, they hope that their lesson will guide their kids to success.
“I want to be that teacher that lets them learn themselves, understand what they want for themselves,” said Mrs. Little. “I’m there for them, to guide them as best as I can and have fun. I have fun in my classroom, and they don’t get my dry sense. I can’t worry about it, that’s okay.”
“We know what we’re doing here at our public schools,” said Mrs. Latour. “We want the best for our kids and for their kids, and they need to go to bed on time and go back to routine, so we all have an amazing first week of school.”
Students from Duluth Public Schools return to classes this September 3, with classes starting around 8 in the morning.