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photo by Marcus Frazier
Anthony Green Jr. and Nia Chatman work on assignments on computers during science class at Natchez High Friday.
Public schools seeking 20 teachers
Published Monday, April 21, 2008
NATCHEZ — As the school year nears an end for local students, administrators in the Natchez-Adams School District are already looking for a new crop of teachers.
John Sullivan, the district’s human resources manager, said the newest applicants show promise.
“We’ve been pleased with what we have seen so far,” he said.
Sullivan said the district will be hiring 20 new teachers for the upcoming school year.
Sullivan said the vacancies were created by teachers whose contracts would not be renewed for the coming year.
And recent recruiting expeditions to area universities have yielded more applicants than job openings.
District Superintendent Anthony Morris said it was somewhat unusual for the district to have so many applicants.
In the past weeks Sullivan has gone to Mississippi State University, Alcorn State University, and a handful of other schools all in search of new teachers.
Sullivan’s timing in combing through resumes was a calculated maneuver.
“We want to be able to start interviewing early, “ he said.
Sullivan said early interviews allow administrators to have more time to review applicants, resulting in better hires.
Interviews for new applicants could begin as early as the last week in April or the first week of June, Sullivan said.
April 15, was the deadline for school districts statewide to notify teachers whose contracts would not be renewed.
Sullivan said in Adams County 20 teachers received such notification.
Of those 20, 19 had one-year teaching contracts with the district.
Only one of the 20 was on a five-year contract.
Sullivan said statewide districts employ approximately 2,000 teachers with one-year contracts.
The one-year contracts are meant as a way for non-certified teachers to work while they attain certification.
Sullivan said for a variety of reasons most of the 19, had not met the requirements to become fully certified.
But hopefully one-year contract extensions and renewals should not be a problem for the coming school year.
Sullivan said the applicant pool he plans to interview will already be certified and eligible for five-year contracts.
“They’ll be ready to go,” he said.
In addition, Sullivan said a shortage of teachers across Mississippi will not negatively impact Natchez.
“Natchez has a lot to offer,” he said. “It’s a good place to live.”
Sullivan said rural counties across the state often have difficulty recruiting new teachers because of a lack of social activities and available housing in the areas.
Conversely larger areas also have difficulties hiring new teachers because they simply have a need for too many and cannot find enough teachers.
Natchez rests between the two areas to its own benefit Sullivan said.
Morris said ideal candidates for the district will be able to meet the needs of a diverse range of students.
Morris said that diversity includes individual learning ability and socioeconomic background.
But most importantly he said, “They must have a commitment to young people.”
Comments
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 5:46 a.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by fire39212 (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 8:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
wow redusmfan what did you say to get the blank...
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
fire, check your email
Posted by ijohnson (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 8:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Alrighty now!?!?!?!
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 9:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe this will be the start of a great new year in August. These teachers can breathe new life into the school system...just what the students need and want. Please, please, please let this be what gets the ball rolling for a successful new year! Look at those kids in the classroom picture...they deserve the results of a fresh, new approach to teaching. That guy sitting there could be the next Bill Gates. The girl in the front of the room could be the inventor of a new PDA system, eliminating the Blackberry totally. The teacher may be selected as America's Teacher of the Year. Great things can happen people. Let's hope for the best.
Posted by iomo (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Well said kpage. It's nice to see positive comments!
Posted by drawpaintsing (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That's a good and positive comment, Kpage. I'm not sure what Redusmfan said, but it must have been bad enough to be removed. Public school in general is not bad, but as a whole, the "bad apples" spoil the whole bunch. I am not from Natchez, but I wish the Adams County Public School district the best. My son attend Jefferson County Schools, and it's not the best; but it's not the worst. We have our bad apples just like Adams County. But I have to keep doing my part as a parent to make sure he succeed. But enough about me and mine, I personally think that half of these children don't have a vision and have no one to "plant" those possibilities in their minds. This is in response to some of the choices you have listed in your comment. They need someone who has the patience and knowledge to realize that every child is different and learn different. I can go on, and on, and on, and on, but now I have to get back to my work.
Good morning, Ijohnson!
Posted by JECS (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 11:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Being a volunteer parent for ten years at Natchez High I found it a challenge to work with some of the kids, but it was just a few who had problems. Some of the teachers was a help, and it seem some made matters worst. So with some new teachers in the system it will be a lot better. My wife and I tried to be role models, and we did help a lot of kids go on from high school to live productive lives. I hope it make things better. In the new year I rely on the wisdom of the new board members to bring in new ideas, and get them applied to the system to make things better.
Posted by JECS (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Anthony Green is one of the good kids. Has a good outgoing personality. His people skills are great for his age. Should make a good Bill Gates, Kpage. He is the first kid on the page. Mr. King should make a good Teacher of the Year. He's really good with kids. Just an insipid thought.
Posted by vidalia1 (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I remember when so many of us teachers that wanted so hard to make a difference were driven out of town because we did
not have connections to get a teaching job.I was told that I could never get a job because I do not know anyone.A middle school principal asked me how big my legs were and I asked him what did that have to do with teaching children.He said since you don't know anyone,it means everything.I then knew it was my time to leave the town.I have never looked back. I am writing a book and plan to reveal it all.
Posted by fire39212 (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 3:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I was gone most of the day redusmfan but i have now checked my email oh my goodness that was way to funny...Truth hurts sometimes huh
Posted by JECS (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Vidalia1 - I would love to read your book. How would I recognize the title when you finish. Just a hint. Thanks.
Posted by drawpaintsing (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 4:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
JECS, it's wonderful that you and your wife took the time out to help some children, because a lot of children don't get that home. Some may look at that picture and make some bad assumption of the young men. It's sad to say, but that's just the way some people are. My dad was a 5th and 6th grade math teacher for 31 years, and he said one thing to me that sticks in my mind. He told me that if he had 31 students at a time in a class, he had 31 different personalities in each class. They were all different. He also said that you can tell the type of home environment they had by the looks on their faces and their reactions. I commend you and your wife.
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 5:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
what are the three r's to all of you..I know how I define them today..please send your definition of the three r's and lets see if you get blanked....
Posted by JECS (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 5:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks drawpaintsing. I was doing like others just talking about them, but I realized that my kids were going to school with them, so my wife and I decided to go to them and try to help in some kind of way. Well we got stuck for a while, and it was fantastic.
Posted by drawpaintsing (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 6:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Redusmfan, I admit that I don't have a clue what you are talking about. The three "R's" to me are the same as it was when I was in school, but yours must have been pretty bad to be removed. Is it bad enough to email me? If so, I understand.
Posted by ijohnson (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 7:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well,((red)) let's see . . . reading, 'riting and 'rithmatic!! Let me guess -- your definition of the 3 "r's" were a tad bit different!?!?!?!
Hey, ((draw)) -- good comments! In my opinion, teaching is one of the most difficult jobs there is because of all the diverse personalities and challenges teachers are presented with on a daily basis.
Posted by JECS (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ijohnson you check your mail?
Posted by vidalia1 (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 10:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
One title I thought of was Born by the River......Too tame
Posted by ijohnson (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 10:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Got it ((JECS)) -- very interesting!!!! I sent you a follow-up email.
Posted by fay2ntz (anonymous) on April 21, 2008 at 10:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
drawpaintsing, I am from Jefferson County and now have a child attending NASD. Believe me, you just don't know how lucky we have it in Jefferson County. Go to the MS Dept of Education and you will see what levels Jefferson County is on compared to Adams County. You and I both know that we don't have half of the materials that Adams County has inside of the classrooms. So, just continue to do just as I do, work with your child at home. As parents that is what we are suppose to do anyway. Our children's growth in all aspects are on our hands as their parents and no one is responsible for this whether they are getting paid for it or not.
Posted by JECS (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 4:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
That will work---will be looking Vidalia1.
Posted by texasranger (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 8:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I had to friends,that are teachers who moved to Louisana,one teaches in the vidalia,ferriday area and the other one near her mom,s small town. She said it,s like going to heaven from pure chaos. She said the biggest part of the students in all classes in Natchez are rude,unteacheable,callous,constantly causing trouble,are not disciplined,could care less if they hurt someone or if you really live or die. They could care less,want nothing except to run the streets,get high,work the system.That,s the truth you know and we all know it, so quit painting all these lovely pictures,all they want is to work the system. She said teaching these thugs,and disrespectful outlaws was really sickening.They don,t want help and could care less,they would rip off your head in a heartbeat if given the chance. Yeah we all know,shoot back with the race thing,everybody is sick of that get by,lame brain thinking,like Bill Cosby said. We can,t blame it on the while people anymore.
Posted by texasranger (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 8:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They're standing on the corner
and they can't speak English.
I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English
except these knuckleheads.
You can't be a doctor
with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
In fact you will never get any kind of job
making a decent living.
People marched and were hit in the face with rocks
to get an education,
and now we've got these
knuckleheads walking around.
The lower economic people
are not holding up their end in this deal.
These people are not parenting.
They are buying things for kids.
$500 sneakers for what ? ?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
I am talking about these people who cry
when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2 ? ?
Where were you when he was 12 ? ?
Where were you when he was 18,
and how come you didn't know
that he had a pistol ? ?
And where is the father ? ?
Or who is his father ? ?
People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward,
pants down around the crack,
isn't that a sign of something ? ?
Or are you waiting for Jesus
to pull your pants up?
Isn't it a sign of something
when she has her dress all the way up
and got all type of needles [piercing]
going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from??
We are not Africans.
Those people are not Africans;
they don't know a thing about Africa.
With names like Shaniqua,
Taliqua and Mohammed
and all of that crap,
and all of them are in jail.
Brown or black versus the Board of Education
is no longer the white person's problem.
We have got to take the neighborhood back.
People used to be ashamed.
Today a woman has eight children
with eight different 'husbands' --
or men or whatever you call them now.
We have millionaire football players
who cannot read.
We have million-dollar basketball players
who can't write two paragraphs.
We, as black folks, have to do a better job.
Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids,
you are hurting us.
We have to start holding each other
to a higher standard..
We cannot blame the white people
any longer."
Dr. William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.
Posted by firered (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 8:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Texasranger... Just so you know I was a graduate from Natchez High in 2003. I attended schools in the NASD from Kindergarten. I am by far none of the things you mentioned and neither were a lot of my classmates. Yes there were a good bit of students like that there but its not fair to those of us who weren't thugs to be thrown in with that stereotype. Just wanted to let ya know that!!!!
Posted by drawpaintsing (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who's blaming the white folks, Texasranger, and what does this have to do with the need of good teachers? If you have to throw this Bill Cosby poem in every article that it doesn't relate to, then maybe you and he can get together and help some of these "chillren". This is coming from an intellegent public school graduate. Honestly, I know people of all races who talk like that.
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 8:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Mornin' draw. We just can't stop having hope. Hope leads to dreams being realized.
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 9:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I understand what Bill Cosby was saying and I understand what others are saying in this forum about the quality of students in NHS. I believe that new teachers being trained right now in college need to take some type of karate or kungfu classes while in college to be able to manage the students that I have seen in schools lately.
I used to teach 1-6 year olds at my church. I did it for 6 years, teaching many children over the years. My average child was obedient and very well trained in proper way to act in public.
But, when I had a few bad apples, I would talk to their parents after class and they would look at me like I was slapping their mother. I would tell them that their little angel was not even close to being an angel, they would say things like" he is just acting out" or " she has anger issues" or " I am raising him/her alone" . I even had one parent tell me that" You just have to deal with it" I explained to them that they were very wrong in this assumption. I took them to the director and their little hellyun was not allowed back in class the next week. They left the church...and this was a white kid...not a minority. I also dealt with a few minority children. One was as smart at 4 as most children were at 10. She could read and write when she was in my class at 4. Another one, was way behind and her mother was one of the many that told me that she was raising her on her own and had no help. When I later enquired as to why she was single as a parent, I found out that she was single by choice, she did not love the man that got her pregnant 3 times, so she put him out. They were never married and she had decided that she wanted a better man and she was now looking.
All of these boil down to one thing, THE BEST TEACHING ANY CHILD WILL GET IS AT HOME. NO MATTER HOW GOOD A TEACHER IS IN THE CLASSROOM, THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS ARE AT HOME AND ALL THE EDUCATION IN THE WORLD WILL NOT OVERCOME SORRY PARENTING.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!!!
Posted by drawpaintsing (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 9:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey, Mr. Usmfan. I got your message, and I left you one. What you said was true, but I think I understand why they removed it. Check your email, and you will see why I thought that.
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 9:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok.
I offended some blue-hair or some powers that be....lol..but I speak what I percieve to be true. I do not hold back and I do not take prisoners...and sometimes I do not make many friends...but I hope that people understand that I want them to peel the skin from their eyes and really see. I want them to see all that is going on, not just the sugar-coated BS...
I am not a fanatic living in a small shack in the mountains..I do not live on snob-hill with all the blue-bloods and play golf all day. I do not kneel at the altar of the latest self-help guru, and I only bow to the LOrd, Jesus Christ...
Call me what you want to, but I am tired of having crap shoved at me and told that it is filet-mignon and that I should eat...
Anybody with me????
Posted by drawpaintsing (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't remember calling you a racist, Redusmfan. I thought I said that you weren't. I just said that they may have thought what you were going to start a "race war of words", meaning in this comment section. I also said that you were right, and that I agree with you. If I forgot to type the "You are not racist...", then I apologize for my typographical error. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Have a nice day!
Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 9:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Drawpaintsing,
I did not say that you called me a racist and I apologize if you thought I did.
You did not call me that, but another reader called me one. They think that when I step on their toes, it is because I am a racist. They can write off my comments on their minds as racist and forget about them. But, as you and I have been straight forward about, I am not a racist. They do not understand that I step on toes of all colors. ...lol..I step on toes of things that are wrong and I do not care what color the folks are..I care about what their hearts and minds contain..
Have a wonderful day..
Posted by drawpaintsing (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 10:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ok then, RUF,
There is no hate here. I thought I was sure that I didn't. I was still sleepy when I sent you that this morning. Don't worry about stepping on toes. Keep doing it, because people don't like to hear the truth when it's them. But they will get tired of it, and they'll leave you alone. Sometimes, I have had my toes to get stepped on. But, sometimes we all need to be corrected. But you stick to the truth. Everyone is entitled to there own opinions. I just don't like arguments.
Well, let me go now. I have got to make the rest of my day productive.
"PEACE OUT!"
Posted by ijohnson (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 10:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
OUCH!!!! Get off my damn toes!!!! ((just kidding)) *LOL*
Hey, ((redusmfan)) all I can say is, "It is what it is!" There's a lot of truth in what has been said here and there's a lot of work that needs to be done to turn things around with this generation of kids.
Posted by firered (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 11:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think you all should ask some of the kids that go to the high school what the teachers were telling them about the teachers with one year contracts who were not being hired back... There were some interesting rumors going around about all of that. Some I'd be interested to see if it is true or not..
Posted by sammohon (anonymous) on April 22, 2008 at 7:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think Bill Cosby is right, especially if you leave out the part about black folks and Africa...he focused his statement on his race, but it is true now of all...we, as parents, must, MUST!...be responsible, accountable, pro-active, and supportive of the teachers...children will lie, if they have misbehaved and are called to account...it's time for the pendulum to swing back toward the teacher's word over "little ms or mr perfect"...the other excuses are just that...
Posted by toosweet23 (anonymous) on April 24, 2008 at 12:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
May God bless the children, they need teachers like I did when I was in school. Our teachers were firm and meant business. These teachers play with the students, and tell them things like "I got mine, you get yours". I remember a teacher , Mr. Tom Davis, we need more like him. He got the utmost respect from the whole class.
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