Teacher features

Jamie Cothren has been teaching 25 years. She taught one year in Montana prior to moving to Cathlamet. Mrs. Cothren is the 2nd grade teacher, but has taught Kindergarten, 1st,5th and Title/Lap as well. She loves to teach the "littles" of the community and see their excitement for school. "My why (for teaching) is promoting this excitement! I love fostering a love of learning." Cothren hopes to encourage curiosity in her students while nurturing their enthusiasm to build a relationship with becoming lifelong learners. As a teacher Cothren is motivated to teach students to read. "All kids have a right to learn to read, and I am constantly trying to refine my practice so that each student is a successful reader."

Outside of school she is an avid reader and enjoys chasing her daughter Keely around to her sporting events. "I love spending time with friends and family." The four-day week has made Cothren a better teacher. "I'm not as tired as I used to be, leaving me with more energy to build their excitement." Typical Fridays are used to search for new projects to do with students in reading, math and STEM activities.

Kaitlin Kincaid is in her 6th year of teaching this year, providing instruction in College Precalculus, Industrial Math, Computer Science, Business Communications, College Statistics and Math Studies. Kaitlin's goal is to "create a positive learning environment where students can engage in problem solving and challenge themselves." Witnessing student breakthroughs and finding life-applicable meaning makes teaching the lessons worth it, giving Kincaid her "why" as a teacher. Her students motivate her and being there for them to teach them strategies to be successful is a motivating factor. "I truly love my job and enjoy getting to work with my students and see them grow throughout the year and their time in high school." Outside of school she enjoys gardening and spending time with her three dogs. Her dogs enjoy the garden as much as her. She has ambitions to grow a flower farm someday.

When asked how the four-day week has impacted her teaching, Ms. Kincaid shared that the extra time has allowed her to create more engaging and student-centered lessons. Fridays are used now to plan these lessons, and the extra time gives space to make them better. "I am more organized with the extra time, and I feel better rested. "I think the switch to the 4-day week has reinvigorated my teaching. I am being very purposeful about my instruction time with the 4-day week." She has noticed her classes are moving at a faster pace than in previous years and students are really engaged, making great progress on their learning objectives already in the year.