The first year of teaching is the most hectic and it’s no different for Iola Middle School math teacher Chelsea Gumfory. She added a lot of jobs to her resume over the last few months.
“I’m a first-time teacher, mom and wife,” she said. “It’s stressful but I can do it once I get in the swing of it.”
Gumfory was married in March to husband Josh. He works for the city of Iola in the gas department. The couple had their son, Nash, in July and are currently living in LaHarpe.
Gumfory is also on multiple committees.
“I’m on the math SAC committee and the instructional practices inventory committee,” she said.
Gumfory grew up in Bronson and transferred to Marmaton Valley in high school so she could play sports. She still enjoys being athletic in her free time and is the assistant coach for the middle school volleyball team.
“I like being active,” she said. “I play softball in Humboldt on Wednesdays and volleyball on Fridays in Garnett.”
While she was a college student at Pittsburg State University she had the opportunity to student teach for USD 257. She taught at the high school and the middle school in the math departments.
“I had a great experience here,” she said.
This year the math department has introduced a new homework philosophy. Students are not assigned homework. Instead they are given two worksheets at the start of the week that are due by Friday. The worksheets are considered extra credit. The incentive behind completing the worksheets is that points are awarded. Enough points earn the students prizes.
“I want to do a movie day with popcorn,” Gumfory said, as one of the prizes.
Those who don’t have their work completed are not allowed to obtain the reward.
The idea behind this new method is to make sure the students are doing their own work in class instead of having outside help at home.
Gumfory tackles first year at IMS
