The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

The newest face at FE Miley Elementary School is actually a returning personality. Mr. Desmond Parker is the new 2nd Grade teacher. He is taking over from Amy Terry, who will be shifting to focus exclusively on special education. Mr. Parker did his student teaching with Sherri Moore in the 3rd Grade Class last year, where he was popular with the kids and well liked by the staff. He applied to several schools, including FE Miley, who hired him before he heard back from anyone else. He was was extremely happy to move to Big Sandy because he already knew some of the students and teachers. He was also familiar with the curriculum and the approach to education. It also meant moving out of his grandma's house, where he has been living while working on his degree.

Mr. Parker is from Rocky Boy, MT. He went to school in Rocky Boy for the majority of his school years, attending in Havre for the first half of his freshman year in High School before transferring back to Rocky Boy. He graduated from Stone Child College last year with a Bachelor of Science degree in K through 8 Elementary Education. Desmond says he always enjoyed school, but didn't think of himself as a teacher when he was young. During his years at Stone Child, he had some teachers that really pushed him to get his degree done and get into teaching.

After starting his college education studying to be an electrician, Mr. Parker transferred to Stone Child College to study Education. "An opportunity popped up for Native American Teachers, and I thought I might as well take advantage and do my best in this. It'll help me be a better parent. I was a new father at the time, and I wanted to be the best parent I could. The opportunity presented itself, and I decided to take it. I'm here now to be the second grade teacher, and I'm pretty excited about it." The opportunity was the Indian Education Professional Development (IEPD) program. In exchange for paying for his tuition and books, Desmond agreed to teach for 4 years at a school with at least 10% Native American Enrollment.

So far, Desmond is enjoying teaching, but describes himself as "still learning." He's working through challenges with the help of his new community and his coworkers, describing it as "a process of learning to adapt and adjust." He's currently putting in around 10 hours a day between preparation for class and teaching. The challenges have been amplified by the heat that has worn on the class for the first week, leaving everyone tired. Also, the new Covid protections prevent the class from moving around the building or mixing with others in the school.

He says that, right now, he's "working all the time". However, for fun he plays basketball, runs, and hunts. Although, time for those pursuits has been limited over the last few years as he has been working on his education. In the future, he hopes to fit in time for the things he enjoys. He also spends time every day with his daughter, Evany. Her name is a combination of her grandfather and grandmother's names - Edmond & Evelyn. She is 5-years old and always wants to play with her dad when he gets home from work at night. The two make a great addition to our community and our school is blessed to have Mr. Parker working hard to teach our kids.