Hillary Walker

Orientation to the School- Required Activity # 1

On Monday, February 6, I went to Rincon Elementary School for the first time.

The two girls I carpool with and I were greeted by Marian Hodge, who is our Clinical

Associate and serves as liaison between Rincon Elementary School and Georgia Southern

University. Mrs. Hodge, who also teaches kindergarten, took us into a meeting room and

explained what would occur that day and her rules and expectations of us. I was nervous

on the way to the school and when we first got there, but Mrs. Hodge was so nice and

welcoming, which made me even more excited to begin my field placement.

After our meeting, Mrs. Hodge gave us a handout that had various staff members

whom she had scheduled for us to meet with for fifteen minutes each that day. They were

the Principal, the Media Specialist, the Assistant Principal, the Counselor, the Nurse, and

the Lead Teacher. Before we went to visit with them however, Mrs. Hodge took us on a

small tour of the school. Since the class I am observing was leaving for a field trip as we

were taking our tour, I only got to meet with Mrs. Welch, my Clinical Supervisor, for

about thirty seconds. I could tell from that first expression that I was going to get along

with her very well. She was so personable and humorous, even in that chaotic time of

getting a class of first graders ready for a field trip! Mrs. Welch told me how excited she

was to have me in her class this semester, which made me feel good, and also ready to

begin observing. I noticed for the brief time I was around Mrs. Welch that day that she

knows how to keep a class of six and seven-year-olds calm and that she is an excellent

disciplinarian.
 The first staff member we met with was Cherry Harden, the Media Specialist.

She was so friendly and hospitable, and seemed eager to show us around. Mrs. Harden

showed us the Accelerated Reader chart, the copy machines, the Ellison machine, and of

course all of the books in the library. I liked how each student gets his or her own library

card, which has the color of what level he/she is on in accelerated reading. The children

are required to keep up with his/her card, which teaches discipline. I agree that every

child needs to learn how to keep up with his or her belongings, even as young as first

grade.

Next, we visited with Lena Waltz, the school counselor. She gave us packets

about Rincon Elementary School’s guidance program and explained each aspect of her

job. I like how each student gets two guidance passes to use during the school year, and

if any student feels that he/she needs to speak with Mrs. Waltz, all he/she has to do is fill

out their pass and turn it in to her box and she will make an appointment to see him/her.

I know that at that age, children are embarrassed about having to see the counselor, so by

having this nonchalant way of making appointments with Mrs. Waltz, it takes the

pressure off the child and makes it less embarrassing to see her. Mrs. Waltz’s job seems

time-consuming because not only does she have appointments with students, but she also

goes to each classroom and gives lectures on a variety of subjects that pertain to

counseling, such as racism. However, I would love to one day become a school guidance

counselor.

The third staff member we met with was Karen Durkin, the assistant principal.

Mrs. Durkin seemed too busy to meet with us, and did not offer much insight or

information about her duties at Rincon Elementary School. I understand that Mrs.
Durkin was very busy, but I thought it was rude of her to not schedule fifteen minutes out

of her day to talk to us. She did tell us that she schedules staff meetings, takes care of

students who violate attendance policies, along with a variety of other responsibilities.

The next person we had an appointment with was Ramona Kessler, the lead

teacher at RES. On that particular day, Mrs. Kessler and her assistant were dividing up

the CRCT practice workbooks for each classroom. Mrs. Kessler has lots of

responsibilities, including putting new students into a classroom that fits his/her needs,

ordering all worksheets and workbooks, testing upcoming kindergarten students for

placement the following year, and tons of other jobs. I would enjoy being a lead teacher

because they get to work with students, but also get some other exciting jobs as well.

Mrs. Kessler seemed rather calm considering she had a busy day with a lot to do. I do

not know if I could have stayed that calm given her situation.

We met with Laura Wood, the school nurse, next. She was rather unfriendly, but

gave us some helpful tidbits to help keep our classrooms safe in the future. I did not

know that most school nurses are RN’s, so that was interesting to find out. Mrs. Wood

put a bandage on a young boy who had cut himself with scissors while we were in the her

office. She was kind to him and seemed to make him feel much better.

Last, we met with Meredith Arnsdorff, the school principal. Mrs. Arnsdorff is

moving to the new elementary school next year, and is excited about it. She is quite a

person. She has been in the school system for over forty years, and seems to love

children. She was so welcoming to us, and told us how much we are going to love being

in classroom and what a wonderful school Rincon Elementary is. I absolutely cannot
wait to have my own classroom. My tour of RES was exciting and I enjoyed meeting

such outstanding people. I hope I work in a school like RES when I graduate.