Jamestown High School alum Kaidynce Walker, now a second grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, helps a student with her handwriting.

Walking from desk-to-desk in her classroom at Lincoln Elementary School during a quiet work time, Kaidynce Walker is exactly where she wants to be.

Through the simple act of helping her second graders develop their handwriting, she’s realized a childhood dream.

“When I walk into my classroom each morning, all I can think is ‘I made it,'” she said. “I conquered a lifetime goal. I am a teacher.”

Steps away in her own classroom, Maddyson Nugent is all smiles while teaching her students about matter during their snack time.

“I wanted to go into education because I loved the idea of everything that comes along with teaching,” the Cuba, N.Y. native said. “There is nothing greater than watching students succeed and I am so lucky to see this happen everyday.”

Both Walker and Nugent are first-year teachers and each couldn’t have asked for a better first assignment than at Lincoln Elementary School and with Jamestown Public Schools. For Walker, a recent graduate of Jamestown High School, the notion of teaching in her home community is a personal one.

“This district is truly amazing,” she said. “We work together as a team to provide the children with the best education opportunities and the dedication and love that this district provides is inspirational. I am beyond blessed to be back and be a part of this amazing district.”

Though Nugent isn’t a Jamestown native, she student-taught at Lincoln last fall with her now-mentor teacher, Jessica Dockwiller.

“I enjoyed every day I spent at Lincoln and discovered how much I love teaching second grade,” she said, also crediting her colleagues at Lincoln for helping her to develop as a teacher.

“There are so many staff members in the district that have been there to support me as a first year teacher and I am beyond grateful for that,” Nugent added. “Whenever I have questions, I know there is someone that is more than willing to answer them.”

A month-and-a-half into school, both have been amazed at the power of having their own classroom.

“From the beginning of the year to now, I have been able to find my ‘groove’ — I am developing my own sense of teaching, my own way of teaching a lesson,” she said. “But I also now know each student that I have. I know their different faces, their moods, and the way they handle certain situations. I thought that having 20 students would take me a long time to learn each student. But for an entire month, I have learned so much from each student. Information that I will always remember.”

Nugent agreed.

“My students are so eager to share things about themselves with their classmates and myself,” she said. “What’s also amazing is the community my students have built with one another. They are always ready to cheer each other on and help out when needed! They get excited when a classmate succeeds and it makes our classroom an exciting and fun place to be.”

Jamestown Public Schools still has a number of instructional positions available for prospective teachers and will be sponsoring a number of job fairs over the next few months to recruit prospective employees. To learn more about current opportunities, visit jpsny.org/jobs and to stay informed about upcoming job fairs, visit jpsny.org/jobfair.