First time teachers ready for school

By Sharon Stevens Education Reporter

KSDK -- A number of first time teachers will be starting in area schools this fall.

In two weeks, Hayley Leake, 23, will teach English literature at Hazelwood West High School starting August 13. The Saint Louis University graduate from Silex, Missouri says she's excited and ready to get started.

Leake is participating in the Hazelwood School District's orientation week for new teachers.

Leake says she has butterflies in her stomach and she's be thinking a million different things on that first day of school, but she is looking forward to getting to know her students and her colleagues.

She calls being a teacher the best profession in the world.

"I like working with children when they're in that stage of their lives," Leake says. "It's a very critical time. A lot of decisions have to be made, important decisions. Where am I going to go to school? What am I going to go for the rest of my life? And that's where those ideas start building momentum, so I really like being that mentor for kids."

Hazelwood officials say there are 80 new teachers in the district this year.

NewsChannel 5 Education Reporter Sharon Stevens will check back in with Leake in a few weeks to see how her first day went.