Starting as a teacher in a new state is hard, and starting during a pandemic is even harder.
But Kate Redetzke, who teaches reading and French at Leflore County High School, says she is glad she made the leap from Minnesota to Mississippi.
“I’ve lived here for almost a year now, and I’m still not used to people calling me ‘ma’am’ all the time,” she laughed.
Redetzke, who is originally from Minneapolis, was the 2020-2021 school year’s only new Teach for America (TFA) educator in the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District.
“I was really nervous when I moved down here because I didn’t know anybody. And initially, there was supposed to be one other new TFA person coming with me to Greenwood, but she had to back out for a couple of reasons. So that was like three days before we moved down here. And I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m moving to this state where I know nobody — like, what am I doing?’” she said, laughing in hindsight. “But TFA introduced me to a couple of the alums in the area, and that’s been great. Everybody’s been just so welcoming.”
TFA is a nonprofit organization that enlists and mobilizes young teachers to help educate low-income students throughout the country. Each participant is hired for at least two years to teach in a public school and may choose to continue there afterward.
“When I applied for Teach for America, I told them they could send me wherever they needed me the most, and so that’s why they picked the Delta for me,” she said.
Redetzke, 21, who graduated from the University of Minnesota with a double major in linguistics and French, said she tries hard to connect with her students, even reading young adult books to try to recommend those she feels her class would enjoy.
Still, this past year was difficult.
Because of COVID-19 precautions, teachers in the district were permitted to teach from home, but Redetzke said she preferred to visit the campus often.
“I went into the building at least two days a week because I wanted to get to know my coworkers and get to know the school,” she said. “It felt a little bit too weird to me to stay at home.”
For the majority of the year, schools in the district held classes exclusively online.
From March until last month, they offered an optional hybrid learning schedule that combined in-person and distance learning, although only around 500 of the district’s more than 4,000 students chose this path.
Redetzke said when the hybrid schedule allowed students to return to campus, LCHS saw only about 10 students in the classroom at most.
“With all the time that I had spent imagining what my first year as a teacher would be, I never thought that it would be easier for me to recognize my students’ voices than their faces,” she said. “I never pictured teaching online.”
But, with in-person instruction scheduled to resume in the fall, she said she is impressed by the will her students have exemplified and the skills they have learned.
“I mean, they definitely struggled this year with online learning, but that’s not at all their fault. They’re all trying their absolute hardest, and they’re coming to class. ... And we’re getting so much better at writing emails,” she chuckled. “So it’s definitely been tough, and I’m really excited to see them in person next year.”
All in all, Redetzke said that the best advice she can give any new teachers is simply to expect the unexpected.
“I didn’t know what to expect when I came in, and I feel like I was more open that way to just say, ‘Whatever is going to happen is going to happen,’” she said with a smile.
- Contact Adam Bakst at 581-7233 or abakst@gwcommonwealth.com. On Twitter at @AdamBakst_GWCW.
