Chinook Welcomes Four New teachers to town
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Students returning to classes in Chinook have been greeted by new faces and a few familiar ones in new roles. Four new teachers have been added to staff for the 2023-2024 school year, though the school is still looking to fill some roles.
Fred Hofman, the superintendent in Chinook, highlighted some of the staff changes: “We’ve got a new 7th through 12th Special Ed teacher, who we converted from a paraprofessional to a teacher.” Faith Hofman, Fred’s wife, took on the role after the district lost its third special education teacher in as many years and was unable to find anyone to fill the position. “We just decided to go ahead and grow our own. And that’s kind of how we’re trying to go about doing things.” Mrs. Hofman, who has been working for the last 5 or 6 years as a special education paraprofessional, received a provisional endorsement for the position. She will be returning to school to earn the necessary certifications for the position.
Chinook also hired a new art teacher, who will be working in both of the schools this year. Shay Waldbillig was student teacher of Science in Chinook the second semester of last year. Her Art minor made her eligible to teach both Art and Science. When the Art teaching position opened, the school hired her right away. “We’re really excited about her. She played collegiate volleyball at Northern. So it’s always good to have some one with that kind of background when you’re looking for coaches.” Shay, who is from Western Montana, came to Northern specifically to play volleyball and earn her teaching degree.
Justin Gordon is the new fourth grade teacher and is entering his first year teaching. He hails from Billings originally. He came to Chinook through an online recruiting fair. He will also be assisting with the Junior High Wrestling program.
The final teacher who was added to the staff roster is actually returning to teaching in the community. Donna Miller was a long-time English Teacher in Chinook. Last year, she came out of retirement to teach in Turner. Superintendent Hofman explained that she was open to teaching for one more year and agreed to return to Chinook. Miller is fairly well known in the community and “everybody was thrilled that she agreed to come for the year.”
The school is still looking to fill a few positions in the coming years, and is considering converting teachers from other roles to meet the need. “We’re probably going to convert one of our elementary teachers into a music teacher for next year. There’s another chance that we’ll convert one of our teachers to a counselor. They will need to go back to school and get another degree, but that’s kind of where we’re at.” Mr. Hofman explained that there are around 50 music teacher openings in the state at this time, making hiring for the specialized position extraordinarily difficult. “Home growing” teachers into those positions is almost the only option. In addition, the school has taken a very proactive approach to filling staff vacancies by recruiting and hiring student teachers at the end of their student teaching tenures, which is a full year before they finish school.
“The fact that the only teacher we’re missing right now is music, and we were able to cover that in the elementary with a regular classroom teacher, which we’re allowed to do down there… All things considered, we’re pretty doggone lucky. There’s still a few 100 teacher openings that are posted in the state of Montana.”
Superintendent Hofman went on to explain that Montana is facing teacher shortages largely because it is one of the lowest paid states in terms of teacher’s salaries. In addition, he pointed to the cultural shift that sees teachers dealing with increasingly combative parents.
