Gilroy
– The honeymoon isn’t over for first-year teacher William
Parton.
”
I’m ready. Bring on the next year,
”
he said smiling.
Parton is finishing his first year teaching in the Gilroy
Unified School District after undergoing a career change last year
when he served as a long-term substitute teacher at various schools
in GUSD.
Gilroy – The honeymoon isn’t over for first-year teacher William Parton.
“I’m ready. Bring on the next year,” he said smiling.
Parton is finishing his first year teaching in the Gilroy Unified School District after undergoing a career change last year when he served as a long-term substitute teacher at various schools in GUSD.
He left the world of mechanical engineering behind at 24, embracing his future as a teacher.
“Some days, working as an engineer, you’d just wish a project would go away and never see it again,” Parton said. “I’ve left (Ascencion Solorsano) each day wanting to come back. Ultimately, it’s the students that keep you coming back.”
Parton teaches three computer and three life skills classes to sixth- and seventh-graders at Solorsano.
Next year, as the school phases in its first eighth grade class, Parton will switch to teaching eighth grade math.
“There’s no room for opinion in math – so it makes that aspect easier to teach,” Parton said. “Students realize – next year’s high school. They know the game by now.”
Parton’s comfort with mathematics also stems from his background as an engineer.
He attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. majoring in business and mechanical engineering. Parton always knew he’d end up in the classroom, but never expected it would happen as quickly as it did.
After college, he worked as an engineer but was laid off as projects dwindled. It turned out to be a blessing disguised as a pink slip.
“I have no complaints,” Parton said.
He and his wife Holly, a math and science teacher at Brownell Academy, moved to Gilroy about two years ago for her first teaching job from northern Michigan.
“We’re almost locals now,” Parton said. “I see us staying here for a long time.”
The couple was able to purchase a home in Gilroy earlier this year in the La Maestra development through an affordable housing program for teachers by the South County Housing Commission and GUSD.
This year, Parton’s parents purchased a four bedroom, 100–year-old house for $99,000 in Michigan.
“Here, it’s luxury one and two bedroom homes,” he joked.
Parton took courses throughout the year at National University in San Jose, earning all of his teaching credentials. He is working towards his Master’s degree this fall at National.
Every week he meets with a mentor on campus who gives him advice and feedback about his teaching methods. But he considers the entire Solorsano staff his mentors.
“It’s all about communication,” he said.
Parton is a student of teaching himself – this past year he has learned a lot inside the classroom.
“(I’ve learned) the need for patience,” he said. “And setting limits in the classroom. I’m still developing that sense. … Maybe in 10 to 20 years I’ll get it.”
One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching for him is watching students progress over the course of the school year. Tuesday, students in his computer classes presented their class projects using PowerPoint.
“You can really see their pride in their projects,” Parton explained.
Some of his most frustrating days have been when it didn’t appear students understood the material or were developing.
“You have to expect the unexpected,” he said. “You can plan the greatest lesson plan one day, and it may work well in one class and not another, or it may not turn out the way you expected.”
But the challenges have only made him more enthusiastic about teaching.
In his life skills classes, students of all abilities are combined to learn conflict resolution, as well as acquire better study habits.
“Conversationally, I think a lot of students have opened up more,” Parton said.
As the year progressed, he feels they have developed a sense of trust in him.
“I know what to expect of them,” he explained.
The doorway of Parton’s classroom overlooks the play area used by the Eliot Elementary School students, as they are housed on the Solorsano campus.
“I even know some of those kids,” he said standing in the door frame, motioning at the first–graders running around outside. “So look out.”
