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Finishes STRONG
Conference Supports New Teachers During Difficult Year Carl Smith
I
f you ask a veteran educator what it was like to teach during the 2020-2021 academic year, they
will likely tell you they used their years of experience to get themselves and their students through one of the most challenging years in the recent history of education. If you ask the
From left:
same question to a teacher whose first
•
Shanequa Robbins, West Point Consolidated School District (WPCSD)
year leading a classroom was during
•
Kristina Livingston, Mississippi Department of Education (MDE)
this past academic year, they might
•
Jennifer Sykes, Aberdeen School District
say the experience left them rethinking their career path and seriously doubting their future in education. For those new teachers and oth-
the Oxford-based North Mississippi
semester. The first-year teacher said
Education Consortium (NMEC), mar-
she felt lost at times during the year
ried a pre-COVID-19 goal of the MDE
ers with few years of experience, the
and was so overwhelmed when the
— provide targeted support to new
Finish Strong 2.0 spring conference
event was about to start, she mulled
teachers to keep them in the profes-
offered outreach, support and guid-
sion and cultivate a new generation
ance many participants said helped
of experienced educators — with the
them end the school year on a posi-
specific task of supporting teachers as
like I went to church that day. All of
tive note and reaffirmed their commit-
they navigated the first full academic
the speakers were like the preachers,
ment to education.
year during the pandemic.
and they hit on everything I felt like I
not attending. “I equate it to others like this: I feel
was dealing with and even some of the
Approximately 220 teachers joined
For Jennifer Sykes, an English
together — albeit virtually — for the
Language Arts teacher at Aberdeen
issues, problems and feelings I didn’t
April event. The conference, a part-
School District’s Belle/Shivers Middle
know I was dealing with until they put
nership between the Mississippi
School, the conference’s support and
them into words,” she said. “I let out a
Department of Education (MDE) and
outreach came at a pivotal point in the
sigh of relief. It was truly that good.”
School Focus
26
Summer 2021
