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Schools

New Teacher Feature: First Year Teacher Follows Fourth Grade Mentor

Kimberly House, one of the district's newest employees, will teach at Blades Elementary School.

Kimberly House still visits her fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Garland.

House remembers her fourth grade self excited to learn from Garland, who had traveled to many of the places the class learned about in social studies. The same knowledge and experience Garland had then, House wants to bring to her fourth graders now.

“As a kid I thought, ‘If I could just be like that for my students...’” House said. “I just felt like she really cared. I visit with her still because I want her to know she made an impact on my life.”

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House graduated from Missouri Baptist University in 2009 with a degree in Elementary Education. After graduation, House taught at-risk students in a St. Louis charter school until her employment at .

At the charter school, House realized more than ever that teaching goes beyond basic reading, writing and arithmetic.

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“I know my students there were lacking the fundamentals skills not only academically, but also socially,” House said.

Now, House wants to help her students grow as people and focus some of her time on character education and her students’ conflict skills.

“Teachers have an additional responsibility,” House said. “Teaching is a big job. I want to educate the whole child.”

House also plans to hone in on reading during class time. She finds the challenge of teaching students how to read fascinating. Fourth graders in House’s class will participate in the Reading Counts project. House also plans to test her class on reading comprehension, and is setting up a rewards program based on who reads the most. She wants her students to set their own individual reading goals based on their reading levels.

House sits on the Community Committee at Blades, which encourages students to participate in service projects.

Outside of teaching, House loves to travel and collect artifacts to share with her students. Her guilty pleasure, she said, is reading. House also runs often to maintain an active lifestyle.

In the future, we'll get to know a new Mehlville School District teacher each week— just look for the New Teacher Feature. 

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