Three young employees each described how they went from being a high school graduate to an employee for the Newberg-Dundee School District this past fall. All three are Educational Assistants (EAs) who graduated from Newberg or Catalyst within the last two years. Their stories reveal that there is life after graduation and that local graduates have so much to offer as workers.
Mishel Rincon (Catalyst, '23) and Violet Kronewitter (NHS, '23) both work as EAs in the Learning Resource Center at Edwards Elementary School. Jonathan Moody (NHS, '22) is an Education Assistant at Joan Austin Elementary School.
Finding Their Paths
How and why did Rincon, Kronewitter, and Moody decide to go into education, and what’s next for them? Rincon and Kronewitter started out as cadet teachers, a paid student teaching position available to high schoolers, and both work with special needs children.
Kronewitter spent her senior year as a cadet teacher, and she heard about the EA role while job-hunting as a new grad. It was a perfect fit.
“I love my job, and I will probably continue to do this for a while,” she said.
While she determines her next career steps, the opportunity has given her training in a field where she has discovered her passion: helping special needs children learn and grow.
“I've been to a couple of trainings this year to expand my understanding of autism and how to work with kids on the spectrum, which has been awesome, and I love learning about that,” she said. “I would love to attend more trainings and classes to be better at supporting and understanding the kids I work with.”
Rincon discovered her love of supporting students as a cadet teacher during her junior and senior years of high school.
“My high school teachers were incredibly supportive; they encouraged me to pursue my passion for education,” she said. “I chose to be a cadet teacher because I knew having experience in a classroom would be important and beneficial. I wanted to provide opportunities for students and have a positive impact.”
She graduated last year and is doing her EA job while taking classes. Currently enrolled at Chemeketa Community College, she plans to earn an Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer (AAOT) degree.
“Once I have my AAOT degree, I plan to transfer to Western Oregon University and get my bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education,” she said.
Moody is also working toward his AAOT degree at Chemeketa while working as an EA. He intends to get his degree in education and become a music or history teacher at the middle or high school level. He loves being an EA.
“I saw this as an opportunity to experience a classroom from a different perspective, and it'll give me some hands-on experience for my future career,” he said.
These three grads found three jobs that fit them well and were able to give back to students who needed them while doing it. They love their jobs, but what do their colleagues think of their work?
Praise from Their Colleagues
Turns out their co-workers and bosses are impressed with these three newcomers. Lori Klaus is one of the Special Education teachers at Edwards who has worked with Rincon and Kronewitter for seven months, and she had the highest praise for them both.
Kronewitter “works 1:1 with some of our most behaviorally and academically challenged students,” Klaus said. “Violet has been eager to learn new strategies/programs (academic and behavioral) to support and help these students grow and achieve their highest potential. She thinks of creative/alternate ways to meet new challenges as they arise. Recently, Violet has started running small academic groups and has quickly understood the curriculum and established rapport with students. She treats students with dignity and respect, as well as holding them accountable to high standards. Violet is someone I can always count on to follow through with quality work.”
Kronewitter is full-time at Edwards, and Rincon works part-time at Edwards and part-time at Mountain View Middle School.
Rincon “works 1:1 with two of our most behaviorally and academically challenged students,” Klaus said. “Mishel has been a very consistent team member who fills in for staff members when they are absent. This is something our team really appreciates! On Fridays, Mishel runs 2-3 academic small groups. She holds students accountable and easily implements teacher plans. She also treats students with dignity and respect and is a good communicator on the team.”
Sammy Sanders, a Sixth-Grade Humanities Teacher at MVMS, said that Rincon often is a support person for many students in his class.
“Mishel is such a wonderful presence with students,” Sanders said. “She is patient with students who need support. She sits with students and works hard to relate to them on a personal level. She is the kind of human who genuinely cares about kids, and the kids know that she cares for them!”
Those who work with Moody find him to be simply amazing.
“Jonathan is one of our amazing SPED EAs, so his day looks different from day-to-day or even minute-to-minute,” Joan Austin Principal Ashley Lee said. “Jonathan typically supports students in their least restrictive environment, which is typically the general education classroom. This would look like accommodating work provided by the teacher and then helping the student finish the work. These students may need just a little encouragement to finish an assignment, or it could be using a completely different curriculum based on student need.”
Lee says that Moody thinks quickly when it comes to supporting students, Lee said. He helps students through the sometimes tough experience of understanding the essentials: figuring out where to put their backpacks, how to stand in line, and what a calendar looks like for each grade level.
“I would also add that Jonathan is friendly and goes out of his way to build relationships with students and staff,” said Lacey McNay, Assistant Principal at Antonia Crater Elementary School. “He has a huge heart. For example, the other day, when one of the classrooms he works in had reached a huge goal in music class, he brought in several pizzas for the students to enjoy! Jonathan is a highly valued part of the JA family!”
All three of these EAs are highly valued for their love of education and supporting students and for the positive environment they create at each of their schools. They’ve also carved out incredible lives and futures for themselves right out of high school.