Summer is swiftly approaching, which means seniors are gearing up to take on college. After finishing college, you’d expect to find a career someplace else, but two locals are finding themselves back at where their journeys began, and this time, they’re the teachers.
“We are so ridiculously blessed and lucky and happy and fortunate to have a bunch of kids who have graduated from Mrs. Bryce’s Education Pathway, and then they’ve gone on to college, and now, they’re right back in our district being teachers, and with a teacher shortage, not only in the district, but in the area and nationally. This is a crucial component to what we do here at the Career Academy.” said Eric Kilburn, Sioux City Career Academy principal.
Andy Markowski, who will be the new kindergarten teacher at Bryant Elementary, said finding his passion for teaching was all from the career academy.
“It really opened my eyes because I was still kind of exploring what I wanted to do. There were a bunch of pathways. I was thinking about, and I took a couple of classes here, and it just kind of opened my eyes, and this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” explained Andy Markowski.
Ellie Nava will be a science teacher at East Middle School. Nava said she’s always wanted to help people but didn’t know where to start at first.
“I found that being able to teach science was like that perfect mixture of the two things I love, which is helping people and also spreading science and spreading knowledge about the natural world,” stated Ellie Nava.
Nava questioned if the Sioux City School District would be the right place for her.
“I found myself wondering whether this is the place for me since I had been here for so many years, but the more I’m here, the more I feel like I fit,” said Nava
After hard work, both Markowsky and Nava said they are excited for this new journey.
“I am eager to take on the responsibility, and I feel like I can definitely see those avenues where I want to kind of make a change or really get hands on to make sure that I can benefit where I’m going,” said Nava
“I’m excited to get started. It was nerve wracking at first because I’m graduating a whole year early, so getting started at such an early age compared to some of these other teachers who have gone to school for four years, but I feel like I’m ready” said Markowsky.
Both Markowski and Nava will begin teaching this upcoming school year.