New seventh-grade teacher relishes first day on the job

"Good morning, Jacob! Glad you're here," Ben Parsons said as he shook his seventh-grade student's hand. "You should be able to find your name on one of these planners."

Jacob wandered off among the desks neatly arranged in the daylight-basement classroom at Fair-Mont-Egan School Wednesday morning, looking to find his weekly planner and his start on the fresh school year.

Parsons, meanwhile, was doing an Oscar-worthy job of covering his first-year-teacher nerves, chatting with Jacob's dad momentarily before shifting his attention back to his student. It was still early on the first day of school, and Jacob was the only kid in the room.

"Hey Jacob, how was your summer?"

Parsons, happy to get a positive report, motioned toward his student's footwear.

"Are those basketball shoes you have on?" The young man assured his teacher they were, so Parsons encouraged Jacob to go have a little fun before knuckling down to the new year. "You could be out playing basketball right now, you know."

Jacob bee-lined it for the back door, a slow grin spreading across his face.

Even this early in the day, it's obvious Ben Parsons is a natural in the classroom.

One by one, as the rest of the class filters in to deposit backpacks before heading for the playground, he connects. He shakes their hands, repeats their names, looks them warm and friendly in the eye.

Little do they know at what price that calm welcome was summoned.

"Right now, I'm just trying not to freak out," Parsons confessed during a lull in the action. "I am collectively trying to play the role of the teacher."

It's the first day of school for a first-year teacher.

Landing the Fair-Mont-Egan job was a big break for Parsons.

The 1998 Flathead High School graduate studied geology at MSU-Bozeman. Before long, though, he realized something.

"I loved geology, but I didn't want to do the petroleum gig," he said.

His mom, Val Parsons, still was loving her first-grade teaching career at Peterson Elementary, so he decided to give teaching a try. He got the chance to create and teach a summer course for elementary students in 2001 and was hooked.

"After that," he said, "I was psyched to start teaching."

He graduated with a double major in geology and education, with a broadfield science certificate for grades 5-12.

He finished student teaching in Whitefish in January 2004, and picked up a string of substitute teaching jobs. That summer, he worked trail crew for Glacier National Park. Job offers to new teachers in the Flathead were hard to come by, so he subbed the next year, too. Finally, tired of poverty, he headed to work full-time for Rocky Mountain Outfitter.

The next round of teacher interviews came along, Fair-Mont-Egan considered itself lucky to find Parsons and now, 18 months after leaving substitute teaching behind, he stepped into his own classroom.

Wednesday was the first day of class for his 12 students. But Parsons had been in the classroom every day for the past two weeks, preparing for Aug. 30.

On the afternoon of Aug. 29, he still was a little frightened.

"Oh yeah, definitely," he admitted. Class schedules were written on the white board at the front of the room. Planners and handbooks were stacked on each student's desk. His mentor, eighth-grade teacher Cindy Galvin, was next door and ready to offer help if needed.

"But today I feel better. I'm just getting ready to start, to get rid of the anxiety," he said.

The next morning, he did.

There were the last-minute pop-ins from fellow teachers as Fair-Mont-Egan's 145 students gathered on the playground: Band doesn't start until next Tuesday. Do you have your schedule for the week?

Suddenly, students came in clumps. The first bell rang. The tardy bell was five minutes away.

"So, do I have to wait for the bell or can I start?" Parsons teased.

"Welcome to school. This is seventh grade, in case you're wondering if you are in the right place … Anybody hear any rumors about me?"

He gave them the 10-cent tour of his background. Despite his first-year status, he reassured: "Don't worry, they trained me so I'm not clueless."

He asked about them: Give your name and tell something unique about yourself.

He quizzed them on a fact learned last year: What percent of the earth's surface is water? The volunteered answers went on the white board - 75 percent and 70 percent. They stood in a circle and tossed an inflatable globe to each other, tracking whether they grabbed land or water on the catch. It became a hands-on science and math experiment.

The student handbook and school rules followed. There was a five-minute socializing break between first and second periods. They piled tissue boxes brought from home onto a table, stashed school supplies in their desks, chose and labeled storage cubbies.

Then came the sweet surprise.

"We're going to make cinnamon rolls, mainly because I thought it would be fun," Parsons told them. "The first day of school should be fun. It should be a day you look forward to all your lives."

He walked through the steps - making it clear that participation was voluntary: Wash your hands. Fill Dixie Cups with chocolate chips, craisins and brown sugar. Tear off a sheet of waxed paper. Grab a ball of pre-mixed dough. Head back to the desks to flatten the dough, stuff it with goodies, roll it up and plop it in the 12-cup muffin tin.

"Cool," one girl beamed, "I've never made cinnamon rolls before."

"I just have this ball of brown sugar inside," a boy told his buddy. "It's going to be so good!"

Parsons drew a map of the tin on the white board. Students signed their spots as they plopped dough into cups. He promised to bake the rolls while students were gone to their third-period math class.

"We'll eat those bad boys when you get back from your break."

A preview: Democracy in action Thursday, when they collectively work out classroom rules. Math tests on Thursday and Friday. No class Monday.

"Are there any questions you have for me?" Parsons scanned the room. A hand shot up.

"How old are you?" He obliged: "I'm 26 and I'll be 27 in March. I have a slide show about myself, and I'll bring it tomorrow."

"Do you mind if we chew gum?" An emphatic yes, he did mind.

A discussion of pets, then it was time for their outside break.

For Parsons, it was time to reorganize.

"So many times I felt like the deer in the headlights," he shook his head. "I'd get done with something and I'd think, 'What do I do now?' Cindy (Galvin) is such a natural, she must have a whole lesson plan written out in her head minute by minute."

He hadn't been sure whether he'd be able to muster what it took to be at the head of the class once again.

"It's been so long since I taught, and you kind of get burned out on subbing," he said. "But I found out this morning that yes, I like this."

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com