What We Know: Nixa Public Schools is seeing a familiar trend as the new school year gets underway — former students are coming back to the district, this time as teachers.
What It Means: Several of Nixa’s new teachers this year are graduates of the district themselves. Some are beginning their teaching careers, while others spent time teaching elsewhere before deciding to come home to Nixa.
One of those new educators is Halle Hanna.
Hanna is a Nixa graduate and is beginning her first year as a teacher at John Thomas School of Discovery. And teaching is definitely part of the family.
Her mother, Marilyn Hanna, is the principal at High Pointe Elementary and has about 30 years of experience in education. Her father, Clay Hanna, is also a former teacher and administrator who is now retired.
Halle says both of her parents helped inspire her decision to enter education.
That makes for an interesting start to the school year. One generation has decades of experience in the classroom and school administration, while another is just beginning her career.
But Halle’s story is also part of something larger happening across the district.
Nixa officials noticed a significant number of district graduates among this year’s group of new teachers.
The district has been putting more attention on what it calls “growing our own” — encouraging Nixa students who are interested in education to consider becoming teachers themselves.
Part of that effort includes a future teachers program at Nixa High School, designed to give students an early look at education as a possible career.
District leaders are now working to determine how many of this year’s new teachers participated in that program while they were students.
And not every Nixa graduate joining the district is fresh out of college. Some went elsewhere to begin their careers, gained experience and are now returning to teach in the same community where they went to school.
What’s Next: For Nixa, that’s a connection that goes beyond simply filling teaching positions.
Students who once walked the district’s hallways are now returning to lead their own classrooms — and in some cases, following in the footsteps of the teachers and family members who inspired them in the first place.
(Photo provided by Nixa Public Schools)