New first grade teacher starts her career in Bigfork

There are seven new teachers in the Bigfork school district this year, and Ashley Herriott is starting her teaching career as Bigfork Elementary School’s new first-grade teacher.

Herriott is a recent graduate from University of Montana and an alumnus of Flathead Valley Community College and Flathead High School. As a native to the valley, she got her initial introduction to Bigfork while working at Trinity Lutheran Camp.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher,” Herriott said. “My band teacher, Alan Slater, was so encouraging. It didn’t matter who you were, he made you feel important. I want to do the same thing, and I love kids.”

While working as a barista at Colter Coffee in Kalispell, she met up with Bigfork Middle School sixth-grade teacher Laura White, who is now her mentor. She credited their encounters at the coffee shop as how she became interested in teaching in Bigfork and she said she is enjoying the friendly small town atmosphere.

With a classroom of 18 students, Herriott has her hands full and has some big goals in the works for her first year as an educator. She wants to make her classroom function “like a family,” where her students will develop teamwork and problem solving skills by the end of the year.

“I love the age group that I have, they are so curious about everything and they love life and they are hilarious. They just make me laugh every single day,” Herriott said. “They know school at this point, but they are still so excited about learning, you see so much growth in first grade from the beginning of the year to the end.”

Currently, she is getting a baseline for where her students’ skills are by playing games, doing social work activities, and learning routines.

Part of their daily routine involves kicking off each day with a high-five, handshake, or hug. From there, it’s everything from traditional lessons in cooperation and math to more modern ones such as educational games.

“They don’t even know they are learning, that’s the best part,” Herriott said.

One of the things Herriott noted about working at BES was the benefit of having iPads available in the classroom. She said the educational games she has her students play makes it easier for her to differentiate instruction for each student. This ensures each student is challenged, but not pushed so hard that the lesson becomes frustrating.

She said differentiating instruction to meet each of her students’ needs is a bit of a challenge, but that this is the only career she’s ever wanted.

“They (the teachers she had as a student) showed me the importance of education and how important it is to be a positive influence in someone’s life,” Herriott said. “I want to make that difference in the kids’ lives.”