County briefs new teachers
A crop of new teachers in Columbia County underwent an orientation Tuesday at Savannah Rapids Pavilion.
Leslie Horton, a teacher at Martinez Elementary School, fills a plate at a luncheon held at the Savannah Rapids Pavilion for new teachers in Columbia County.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
The orientation familiarized the more than 180 teachers recently hired by the school board to county procedures and the schools in which they will be serving, said Connie Davis, the system's human resources director.
"We teach about things like the supplemental services available to them," Davis said. "We want them to know that we're there for them, so they can best serve our students."
John Raeth recently moved to Columbia County from Tennessee, where he taught algebra and geometry. He will teach the same subjects at Harlem High School when classes resume Aug. 3.
Wanting to live closer to his sister, Raeth, 52, began searching for a teaching position in the area this past spring and said he was struck by Columbia County's school system.
"I was looking at the school system's Web site, and it answered every question I had about the schools," he said. "It was very impressive."
Leslie Horton, 23, graduated from the University of South Carolina Aiken in December. She was told by her professors that Columbia County was a good school system, but rarely hires teachers right out of college. She wasn't deterred.
"A lot of my classmates were like, 'Oh, well,'" she said. "Not me. That just lit a fire under me to want it all that much more. I wanted to be in this school system."