“It’s important to make sure that (new teachers) can work together with others, because there is no job in this building that is just sitting behind a desk all day,” said Meghan Ober, Department Head of Guidance, when asked what the most important thing is that she looks for when hiring someone for her department.

Teachers play a vital role in every Triton High School student’s day, but many students don’t know how they are hired or what goes on behind the scenes in regards to hiring a new staff member and getting them ready to be a part of the Triton community. Triton High School Principal Timothy Ruggere, Kathy Norton, Head of the Math Department, and Ober provided insight as to what goes into filling a vacancy in the school, from the job posting, all the way to approving the candidates and their pay.

Norton was asked about her process in hiring new employees into her math department.

“A person needs to know math, understand the education area, understand teenagers, have some experience, and know how to work with others,” she said. “Knowledge of the subject area,” was a phrase that she used commonly, and one that she said she values.

Educational knowledge is not the only important thing to Norton when hiring. She said she values those who can get along with people.

“I reach out to those who apply for the position and are qualified but others have contacted me asking to be hired” Norton said. Some new teachers will come straight out of college looking for jobs and that is a good place to look. Some teachers are hired as young as 22 years old, making them only four years older than high school seniors.

Norton has regretted hiring teachers before for undisclosed reasons but this proves that the process is very much needed.

Ober was recently tasked with finding a new member of her department, the position of administrative assistant (watch for upcoming coverage). She said that when there is a vacancy in the Guidance Department,  she gives Central Office the title of the position, and a description of the job. Central Office is tasked with posting the job on SchoolSpring.com, the website that the District uses to advertise the open positions.

Once applications start arriving, Ober reviews the applications and decides who she believes the best candidates are. Ober said that “experience is key. Definitely experience, especially experience in a school setting, so that they hit the ground running. That’s a big piece to what I look for on the resumes.” For her department in particular, she said that “you have to look for a team player and someone who can work in our group.”

After careful review of the candidates, Ober calls the top two to invite them into the building for an in-person interview. Once both candidates have been interviewed, and Ober has made her final decision on who to hire, she calls the person that she would like to hire, and tasks Ruggere with calling the person who was denied the position.

“I’m the principal, so I have to do things like that, but I let them call the person who got the job,” Ruggere said.

Once the new hire is in the building, they shadow Ober and Allesha Kenyon, the former administrative assistant. “They experience a lot of trial-by-fire, figuring out what works and what doesn’t,” Ober said.

“This year we had four positions to fill, two in the science department, one in the English department, and one in the math department.” Ruggere said. “The one in the math department was easier to fill, because Mr. Reeves stepped up, and that was helpful, but the other ones are posted on SchoolSpring.com and prospective employees can look for jobs on there, just like I did,” Ruggere said.

Once the job has generated candidates, the department head will interview the top candidates with Ruggere. According to Ruggere, “10 out of 10 times I will agree with who they choose, and then I let them call the person who got the job and I call the person who didn’t. After that, I have the person come in and do paperwork with Mrs. Wright and then together, Mrs. Wright and I figure out what their salary will be based on prior experience and qualifications.”

In the end, it all comes down to “How well do they like teenagers?” as Norton said, and the student-teacher connection.