Meet the new teachers at NR-S: Part 1

Summer break is officially over, as kids were back to school on Thursday, Aug. 24. And like every year, there were a few new faces greeting them when they arrived.

One of those new faces was that of Steven Stutlien, New Rockford-Sheyenne's new math teacher for grades 8-11, and he'll be the go-to for seniors looking for assistance with their online dual credit courses.

Stutlien is a native of Harvey, N.D. with a degree in secondary math education from Valley City State University. He graduated with his degree in the spring of 2022, before completing a year at Montpelier Public School as the district's sole math instructor for grades 7-12.

Now, he's in New Rockford and looking to make this community his forever home.

"I really look forward to establishing a career in New Rockford," said Stutlien. "If all things go well, I mean I'd like to be here for one, five, 10, 50 years. It's something I'd like to do for as long as I possibly could."

Stutlien has always been a gifted mathematician, and has been wanting to teach math ever since he was in the fifth grade. While in elementary school, Stutlien said he taught his classmates and friends the math they were learning in class.

Now he's just excited to get the next chapter of his career started at New Rockford-Sheyenne.

"One of the things I really dreaded the most was the last couple months, weeks, days of school, last school year," said Stutlien. "... so I've been looking forward to the first day of school for a long time."

The arrival of Stutlien at NR-S means there'll be another "teacher couple" in the district this year. That's because Aurora Bear, Stutlien's fiancé, will be joining the district as a fifth grade teacher this year.

Bear is originally from Montpelier, where she graduated from high school, and where she later taught for three years after graduating from the University of Jamestown with a bachelor's degree in English, with minors in French, history and creative writing.

Bear currently has an alternative teaching certification through American Board, and has about a year left before she'll be fully certified as a teacher.

"It was really a spur-of-the-moment decision," said Bear about how she got into teaching, "but once I started it, I found I liked it, so I kept doing it."

Bear has previously taught secondary English, but hasn't yet taught elementary students, and she's excited about the opportunity.

"Getting to teach a new grade level!" she said when asked about what she's looking forward to this year. "It's going to be different, and that's always exciting."

Joining Bear at the elementary level is Jan Bakke, the homeroom teacher for fourth grade where she'll teach math and reading. She'll also be an elementary math teacher for the third and fifth graders.

Bakke may be familiar to some in the area, as she's recently been long-term substitute teaching at the Carrington Public School and previously worked in the NR-S district.

"I lived [in New Rockford] from like '93 until 2000, and I was in the school system taking one year's leave of absence in the library there," recalled Bakke. "Lucas Weisenburger and Allan Allmaras and Jeremy Schmaltz were all seniors the year I was here, and so now I'll be teaching their kids!"

Bakke is a fully certified elementary and special education teacher, having graduated from Mayville State University with an elementary education degree.

She grew up on a farm near Portland, N.D., and has many years of experience running a daycare and a christian preschool.

Bakke said she loves working with children and can't wait to get this school year started.

"Kids are the coolest," she said. "They're the best humans to hang out with. They're funny, they're honest, they're open to new ideas and they're open to learning."

As for what she's most excited about for the coming school year, Bakke said she's looking forward to helping her students on an individual basis.

"I'm looking forward to the freedom of a new adventure and the willingness of the administration to allow us to think of how we can best serve each student individually," said Bakke. "I think that's the coolest part. We need to nurture these little humans and get them excited intrinsically on how they want to learn."

Meanwhile, students in nearly all grade levels will have a new music teacher this year.

 Jeff Ingerson, a native of Minot, N.D., has been teaching elementary and secondary music for over two decades, and now he's looking to start the next chapter of his career at New Rockford-Sheyenne.

 "I was looking for something new and they had an opening here," said Ingerson. "I've always done small towns wherever I taught and I'm just looking for a nice, open, friendly small town and I came here to New Rockford for that."

 Among the North Dakota towns Ingerson has taught at over the years are Dunseith, Strasburg, Ashley, Starkweather and most recently Drayton.

 Ingerson graduated from high school in Minot and from college at Minot State University, which is where he decided to become a music teacher.

 "I've always had a great interest in music," said Ingerson. "My dad was a musician and so it's always been there in my life.

 "I'd actually originally gone to college for accounting and found out I really did not like accounting," said Ingerson with a chuckle. "So I turned around one day and decided I was done with that and that I wanted to go into music instead."

Ingerson said he'll be teaching music/band and choir for grades 1-12, and is trying to make room in the schedule for kindergarten as well.

 Stay tuned for more teacher introductions in a future edition of the Transcript, as there are four more new faces at NR-S.