Wright City R-II School District is welcoming a booming group of 30 new teachers, counselors and other certified staff members this year. They come from a variety of experience levels and backgrounds, including a notable number of established teachers moving from larger school districts to Wright City.

Usually most of Wright City’s new teachers are in their first couple years on the job, said Superintendent Chris Berger. That’s still the case for many this year, but a solid number of the faculty who introduced themselves during an Aug. 13 orientation explained that they’ve spent seven-plus years, or even multiple decades, in the classroom. Multiple experienced teachers said they chose to move from bigger school districts in St. Louis and St. Charles counties to come to Wright City.

“We’ve done a good job of getting the word out to our region about the good things that we’ve been doing in Wright City for several years now, and becoming a more attractive place for teachers to bring their families,” said Berger. “This group, mixed in with the staff we retained, makes me confident moving into what is looking to be a very challenging school year.” 

He added that recruiting more experienced teachers gives Wright City schools a chance to learn from some of the good things surrounding school districts are doing.

The Record asked several new teachers to introduce themselves to the community. Here’s what they had to say:

• April Murdock is coming to Wright City Middle School to teach project-based learning, a class that will often focus on science topics.

“We’re going to start out looking at invasive species, and working with the community to create a management plan for getting rid of them,” Murdock provided as an example.

Murdock taught high school for eight years in Troy before moving to Wright City. She said she wanted to work in a more rural area, and was drawn to the sense of community in Wright City. She also owns horses that are stabled in Warren County.

• Carter Olson is entering his first year of teaching after graduating from Northwestern College in Iowa. He’ll be teaching fifth grade writing at Wright City West Elementary, while also helping to coach middle school football and junior varsity basketball. He said he appreciates all the opportunities to be involved in a small district.

“I just want to be there for the kids. I want to help get them where they want to go. Being able to serve them in all the ways possible is something I greatly enjoy,” Olson said.

He commented that teaching writing is a good way to get to know students and help them learn to share their thoughts and emotions.

• Sarah Fetter is joining the Wright City School District after living in town for seven years. She’ll teach kindergarten at Wright City East. She has 16 year’s experience as a teacher in Lincoln County and an education consultant in several school districts. She said she’s happy to finally be teaching in the community where her family lives.

“As a parent, I noticed that the community is extremely supportive of the district. The teachers and the people who work for the district were extremely kind and I felt they worked as a great team,” Fetter said. “I was not going to settle to work in a neighboring district. I wanted to work here.”

Fetter said she finds teaching the youngest students to be the most rewarding experience because  they learn and grow so quickly, and are a lot of fun in class.

• Brian Burgoyne joins Wright City High School to teach language arts, bringing 20 years of educational experience, including eight years teaching English in South Korea. Burgoyne will also help launch fledgling speech/debate and theater programs at the school.

“Communication is so very important. ... If you can’t verbally communicate when you get out into the world, you’re going to be sunk,” Burgoyne commented. “Also, there are certain students who just have to perform, and I would love to give them that outlet. Hopefully I can get them to start writing their own stuff and put on a performance – not this semester, but next semester.”

Part of Burgoyne’s goals for his classes will be to teach students how to form viewpoints that they can back up with facts and critical thinking, rather than just repeating opinions that they’ve heard from other people.