Emergency Teaching Program Provides Benefits

Southside School Teachers Learning Along With Their Students

When Ashlee Wilkening was 34 years old, she made a career decision that many individuals commit to when they are just in their young 20s.

After being a nurse for 17 years, Tiffany Sietsema made a similar decision to enter the educational field.

Southside Elementary School staff members Wilkening, Sietsema, Jane Sorley and Shelby Martell are emergency authorization teachers in the state’s program where individuals instruct local students while also working toward their own degree through online instruction. Wilkening, Sorley and Martell are each now seniors in the program while Sietsema is working in her third year.

The program is a benefit for a school district, like Wolf Point, that is short of teachers and it also provides a great, new career path for its participants.

“This group is so good,” Southside Principal Tara Thomas said.

Some of the participants were recruited by former Wolf Point superintendent Loverty Erickson to take part in the program.

“It really helps us,” Thomas said. “I didn’t struggle. We had staff because of them.”

Wilkening, who teaches kindergarten students, said the biggest challenge has been time management between teaching and also being a full-time student. She spends many nights and weekends on her studies.

“But I really enjoy everything that I’ve learned,” she said. “It’s a lot of work. It’s a full load.”

Kim Beckers has served as her mentor and Wilkening is thankful for the entire educational staff in Wolf Point.

“I definitely have a greater appreciation of every single person in the school system,” Wilkening said.

She was a paraprofessional prior to entering the program and said she treasures working with the young students.

“I love the students. They are the best part,” Wilkening said. “I love the progress they make and how much growth they make.”

Martell, who teaches third-grade students, said her mother, Dori Talks Different, encouraged her to join her in the educational field.

“I wanted to be a lawyer, because I liked arguing,” Martell said of her career ideas when she was younger.

But after being a paraprofessional for several years, Martell decided to become an emergency authorization teacher.

“I love students,” she noted. The mother of four agreed that time management between teaching, studying and family life is a challenge.

“I stay up late at night doing homework and get up early,” Martell explained. “I’ve given up a lot of family time.”

Her mentors have been her mother and Rainey Azure.

“I’ve realized just how much teachers go through such as the highs and lows, the range of students,” Martell said. Sorley, who is originally from Stevensville, explained that she worked at the old Shopko store and at a local bank before coming to the school district.

“I loved when the kids came to the bank, and my mom was a para,” Sorley explained her path to the educational field. Sorley finds her greatest challenge in the classroom involves determining the best way that students learn based on their behavior.

With a 2-year-old and a 4-month

School.

old, finding enough time to get everything done can be interesting.

“It’s hard to balance family, work and homework,” she said. “It’s usually my housework that suffers.”

She says she loves what she does to help children succeed.

“Some days, you are ready to teach, but the kids aren’t. You don’t know what to expect. That’s what makes it fun,” Sorley said.

Sietsema, who teaches secondgrade students, explained she left the nursing professional because of her desire to work with children. At first, she served as a paraprofessional.

She agreed that balancing family, work and school is one of the most difficult things about the process.

“I learned a lot of time management skills,” Sietsema, a mother of three, said.

She treasures the look on students’ faces when they learn something new. She added that teachers play key roles in children’s lives.

“We need people who want to stay here. We need continuity for our children,” Sietsema said.

The women agree that the program has been very beneficial to them, and they urge others to consider going into the educational field.

“Go for it,” Wilkening said. “You’re never too old to try something new.”

Sietsema added, “I say do it. Don’t waste time, do it. The children need you.”