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Two new teachers at Sheldon R-8 this year
Nevada Daily Mail
Sheldon school district hired Ryan Meeks as the high school agriculture instructor and Silvia Martin as part-time music teacher.
Originally from Stockton, Meeks attended College of the Ozarks, majored in agriculture education and taught at Chadwick, Mo., before coming to Sheldon.
"I really enjoy the combination of FFA and the classroom," he said. "It's challenging balancing my time. There's so much to do, I have to pick and choose carefully."
He added he looks forward to living closer to family and feels at home in Sheldon.
Six years ago, Silvia Martin, moved from Portland, Ore., to Nevada, earned a bachelors degree in elementary education from the University of Oregon and a Masters in business and public administration from the University of Phoenix.
"I started playing piano when I was 6," she said. "I started singing in church choirs by 12, and I played flute in honor band all four years of high school. I was hired as a music teacher in a small district in Hines, Ore., where it was 130 miles to a McDonalds."
Martin said the experience taught her about rural education and an agriculture-based economy.
"Part of my philosophy is music is communicating; it's math; it's science; it's history; it's literature," she said. "I believe in being a support to whatever the children are doing in the classroom. Music can be a funnel for solidifying those concepts."
Teaching all pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students once a week, she said, learning names, individual strengths and group dynamics will be a challenge.
"I want to have them twice a week or three times a week," she said with a smile. "I want to get to know them as delightful, creative individuals. I'm eager to be with the children. I want to have those kids singing in the halls. I want them to be aware of music in their lives. I want them to hear the birds, and the rhythm of the birdcalls. I want them to realize music is fundamental."
Martin said she plans to incorporate 100 songs every American should know into the curriculum.
"I want students in Sheldon to know what they should know as Americans," she said. "We're raising and training American citizens, and our Sheldon students need to be able to go to any school and know what they're supposed to know to be successful."
She added she would miss substituting in Nevada and Bronaugh and all the relationships she formed in those districts.
"It was agony to have to say no to a principal because I couldn't sub, so I'm glad to have this change of lifestyle," she said. "I will be with one school and one group of children."