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‘We’re Gonna Do Our Best’: First-Year Teachers On A New School Year Like No Other

First-year teachers in the St. Louis area readied their classrooms at the end of the summer, neatly hanging cutout letters spelling their names and positive messages for students. Just when students would see those messages in person, though, is still a question.

“While my classroom is now full of desks, spaced the district-mandated three feet apart, I will be alone in my room, surrounded by technology, doing what I can to teach my students,” said Zachary Udell, 27, who is teaching fourth grade at Froebel Elementary School in St. Louis.

With no classroom experience to lean on but a stronger grasp of technology, young teachers are wading into the tumultuous water of educating students during the pandemic.

“Everyone has said to me, ‘Well, this is the best and the worst year that you could possibly be a first-year teacher.’ And I would have to agree,” said Claire Long, 22, who is teaching elementary special education at two schools in Columbia, Ill.

Long and Udell are documenting their experience for St. Louis Public Radio of starting an unusual school year.

Follow Ryan on Twitter: @rpatrickdelaney

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Zachary Udell, who is in his first year of teaching, is at Froebel Literacy Academy in St. Louis.
Ryan Delaney / St. Louis Public Radio
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St. Louis Public Radio
Zachary Udell, who is in his first year of teaching, is at Froebel Literacy Academy in St. Louis.
Ryan Delaney / St. Louis Public Radio
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St. Louis Public Radio

Ryan Delaney works on the Innovation Trail project - covering technology, economic development, startups and other issues relating to New York's innovation economy.