Meet the teachers

Wildhorse Plains Elementary School welcomed two new teachers for this school year and both are really excited to be working in Plains.

Nicole Kenfield is in her first year of teaching and said that it was good to come home.

“I grew up in Plains and wanted to be here,” she said. “It was time to come home again.”

She said that, since she did grow up in Plains, the transition has been very smooth and easy. It is nice to not feel like she’s wandering around lost, since she already knew a number of the teachers and parents in the area.

Kenfield graduated from the University of Montana this year with a degree in elementary education and she said being a teacher is something she has wanted to do for a while. She was a teacher’s aide while she was a senior in high school and, at that time, thought she would go into the Navy to have her education paid for, however she decided that the Navy wasn’t right for her.

She went on to Dillon for about a year and a half and stayed out of school for almost seven years, before deciding to go back and get her degree.

“Obviously after still wanting to do this after seven years, I knew that this was right for me,” she said. “I’m having fun and I really love it.”

Kenfield said that she always thought that kindergarten would be the best area for her to teach, but all of the different grade levels have their advantages and disadvantages.

“You can go so much more in depth with fifth graders and they already know their ABCs,” she said. “However, you get to play with the kindergartners, and that really makes up for having to start everything from scratch.”

She said that she really enjoys everything that she gets to do from playing to pretending, to dancing and singing, and especially the fact that they are all encouraged to use their imaginations.

“You have to have a lot of energy, but it is just great to be able to play with them,” she said.

Kenfield has 15 students in her classroom and she said she has already gotten very attached to her students. “It’s really crazy how quickly you can become attached to them,” she said.

While most of the work is a lot of fun, Kenfield said that her biggest worry is making sure that she gets to everyone.

“Sometimes I worry about missing something and being sure that each one gets what they need,” she said. “But you just have to do what you can and keep your eyes and ears open.”

When thinking back on her own days as a student Kenfield laughs and worries that her teachers might not think that she’s being completely accurate.

“I don’t think I caused too much trouble in school,” she said. “But I was definitely one of those talkers and thought that attention should always be on me.”

Gena Ferlan is also in her first year at Wildhorse Plains Elementary School as their Title I teacher.

Title I teachers teach a variety of students and make sure that they stay caught up in reading and math.

Ferlan is in her fifth year of teaching. She graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in health enhancement with endorsements for special education and now also has a traffic education endorsement. She spent three years in Charlo teaching special education and spent last school year in St. Regis as their Title I teacher for K-12.

She substitute taught while she was in college and it was through that experience that made her decide to become a teacher.

“Substitute teaching really inspired me to become a teacher,” she said. “I remember this one class where the teacher had put in her lesson plans that a couple of the students wouldn’t do their work and I thought that was ridiculous. After one day with them I got them to do their work.”

She said that so far the staff and students have both been great.

“The staff has been very welcoming and the kids are just awesome,” she said.

Ferlan has lived in Plains for the past two years and she said that she is really excited to be working where she lives.

“It’ll be nice to get to know my community and the people in it better since I’m working here now,” she said.

Ferlan said that her favorite part of the job is the interactions she has with the students.

“I love to see the growth,” she said. “I love it when they feel success, like when they come in at the beginning of the year and can only count to 10 but by the end of the year they’re counting to 100.”

She said that she really likes working with the younger students, because older ones tend to not be as motivated.

“Younger students still have a love and desire for learning, they think it’s fun,” she said. “In a lot of cases older students lose that passion and aren’t as motivated to do the learning.”

Ferlan said that when she was in school she was definitely one of the good kids. “I didn’t cause any trouble and always did what I was told,” she said.

However, she said that in a lot of cases she tends to be drawn to some of the wilder and more rambunctious students.

“They’re just a lot of fun, even though there are times when I do wish they could be a little more like how I was,” she said. “But I have to stop and remember that not everyone is like me.”

Ferlan said she is really excited to be part of the Plains staff and is also excited for her new edition. She is expecting a baby next month.

“I think expecting my baby has been really helpful,” she said with a laugh. “The students seem to be really drawn to me because I have this baby growing in my belly.”