Teacher rides roller-coaster career path to classroom

    From general contractor to para-educator to substitute teacher and finally to elementary certified teacher.
    Such is the path Janna Hunnicutt followed to become a local educator last December. After all her travails, she now teaches first grade at Miller Elementary School.
    An Ashland native, Hunnicutt moved to Dodge City in 1989. She first earned a degree in cabinet and furniture making and owned her own business. She then worked with a construction company, eventually becoming an independent contractor.
    But through it all, Hunnicutt's dream was to be a teacher. And being the mother of three little sons didn’t prevent her from pursuing a career in education.
    About eight years ago, Hunnicutt started as a para-educator at Miller School, where two of her sons were students. After slowly working up her college hours, Hunnicutt eventually became a substitute teacher, bouncing from school to school.
    "Close friends began to encourage me to pursue a teacher degree," Hunnicutt said. "But (Miller principal) Joyce Warshaw encouraged me the most since I was working closely with her as a para-educator and as a substitute."
    She finally decided to enroll in a Newman University outreach program to pursue her teaching degree.
    Hunnicutt said she paid for her own tuition while working as a sub. The most difficult part, she said, was that during the summer breaks, she didn't earn income to pay for college classes.
    "In addition to the financial challenge, I had to take care of my sons while attending school," she said. "But the outstanding lesson I have learned is that if you have a goal, you must show passion to reach it, and educating kids has always been my passion."
    For Hunnicutt, the most rewarding part of her job was watching students learn and excel in the classroom. She said she always tried to communicate and do a better job explaining a certain subject to her students.
    Hunnicutt said the most dramatic change in Dodge City Public Schools she has witnessed was the impact of the Hispanic population in the classroom. For her, she said, Miller School was where that impact was most pronounced.
    "Because of that, now teachers attend more and more in-service programs in order to be able to teach better," she said.
    Hunnicutt said being a teacher now is very different than it was 20 years ago. She said she had attended linguistic classes to help herself better understand students who come from non-English-speaking families.
    "The difficult thing for Hispanic elementary students is to switch from one language to another," she said. "For example, I noticed they do better with writing than spelling, because they mix the Spanish sound with the English words."
    Hunnicutt said a technique she used to help Hispanic children in the class included the six-traits writing model. This method emphasizes ideas, development, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions. Teaching writing in such a manner is supposed to encourage children to write personal stories more clearly.
    "In general, I have already adapted with my students, and my bilingual para-educator helps me to communicate well with them," Hunnicutt said. "What I admire more is that the majority of Hispanic parents support Miller School. Many of them are involved with the school activities."