Walker gets acquainted

By Frances Vanderploeg

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 | midnight

Colleen Meltzer is a new teacher — new to both the profession and J. Marlan Walker International School — but she handled her first official open house as though she had done it before.

The school held two open houses, on Sept. 3 and 4, to split up the students in tracks two through five. Another will be held later for track one students, who don't return to school until Sept. 15.

Principal Celeste Oakes said she liked the idea of splitting the tracks up, because it was less chaotic and more personal than years before. It also gave school officials the opportunity to start the open house in the multipurpose room, where they introduced all of the teachers and gave a brief run-down of some of the upcoming events.

Excited students sat in the audience, gasping and clapping each time a teacher was introduced.

"I don't even know her," one said, still excited as she continued to applaud each faculty member.

Oakes said the school acquired a few new teachers this year, among them Meltzer, who teaches math to fifth graders in track three. She taught at Walker at the end of last year as a long-term substitute in second grade, which made her transition easier, she said.

Though she finished the year at Walker, her current students are the first class that she can call her own.

"If your child comes home and says, 'Mrs. Meltzer had a bad day today,' please be patient," she said, smiling after describing what the students' daily schedule is supposed to look like.

"I only have 55 minutes to teach them every day, and I need at least 30 more," she said. At Walker, fifth graders rotate through different classes based on subject matter, similar to junior high.

Students were excited to walk their parents through the halls, eagerly dragging them to the classrooms to show off where they sit.

One of the things they were most excited about was Sept. 5, when the school held a special "Joke Day." The students were invited to bring in jokes to share with their friends and classmates during the day.

Isabella Guzman, 9, said she didn't know any jokes and she didn't have any prepared yet. She thought she might try to do research that night to come up with a few.

Her mother, Miriam Guzman, speaks English as a second language. Isabella is fluent in English, but not as fluent in Spanish, so they don't always understand each other's jokes, Miriam Guzman said.

Despite being able to speak Spanish with her family, Isabella said she sometimes has trouble understanding the Spanish taught to her at Walker. Because of its international status, Walker teaches students English and Spanish.

"Some of the words are pronounced weird," she said, stroking her throat with both hands as she tried to demonstrate the method her teacher used to pronounce a certain word.

Miriam Guzman said she was happy she came to the open house. She appreciated the opportunity to meet Isabella's teachers and find out what the class expectations are.

"I want to find out what I have to do (to help Isabella)," she said. "I'm happy with the teachers this year."

Frances Vanderploeg can be reached at 990-2660 or [email protected].