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- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 3 Dec 2007.
James C. Hatcher obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 15 Aug 2013.
Jamie Hatcher kicking off classroom career
JEFF FARRELL
New teacher
Curt Habraken
Jamie Hatcher begins her first year as a teacher on Friday, teaching special ed at Trula Lawson Early Childhood Center.
SEVIERVILLE —
Jamie Hatcher’s been waiting for the start of this particular school year for most of her life.
Hatcher, the newest special-education preschool teacher at Trula Lawson Early Childhood Center, is the daughter of Caton’s Chapel Principal Bill Hatcher and Nancy Hatcher, who teaches first grade at Pittman Center.
With those two as examples, Jamie grew up knowing what she wanted to do with her life.
“I just grew up being a teacher’s kid, so I’ve always wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I always wanted to have the same positive interaction they had with kids.”
This year, the University of Tennessee grad will get her start. She’s been busy over the last few weeks getting her classroom set up and learning about her new students before classes start.
In her class, she’ll be working with students who need some special attention. Her job, she says, is to show them they can feel safe and have fun in the classroom and to get them started on their education.
“You have a curriculum, but you have to modify it with each particular child,” she said.
She doesn’t know exactly what to expect; she won’t get a grasp of that until she’s gotten to know her students in person and evne then she knows it’ll be subject to change.
But she expects there’ll be music. “We’ll sing a lot. I really like singing and dancing,” she said.
There’ll probably be lots of stories, too.
“My mom’s the best storyteller,” she said. “I hope I can emulate that.”
She wasn’t just exposed to her parents’ teaching style or interaction with kids on rare occasions or at home. She went to Caton’s Chapel from kindergarten to eighth grade, so she saw how her dad did his job every day.
“He has this big voice and you can hear him everywhere so I’d hunch my shoulders at first and be like, ‘Oh, no, there’s Dad,’” she said.
Even in the summers, she would spend much of her time at the school. She doesn’t remember a single moment that it became clear for her, she just always remembers thinking she wanted to teach.
She also knew she wanted to teach preschool, because she likes working with children that age and because she thinks it can make an impact.
So it’s not surprising she has a strong opinion when politicians claim the program isn’t worth the taxpayer funds that go into it.
“I’d like these politicians to come to a classroom and see what we and follow how much it helps kids with the transition when they move up,” she said.
But in the meantime, she’s getting ready to teach a room full of kids.
The staff and faculty at Trula Lawson have been a big help, she said, and she’s really looking forward to getting started.
For the first day, she has a pretty good idea what to expect.
“I think there’ll be a lot of excitement, and I think I will be as excited as they are,” she said.
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
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