We are very proud of Peter Burnett’s daughter, Ellie, who started her teaching career at Fairfax County’s J.E.B. Stuart High School this month. She’s one of 1600 new teachers in Fairfax County this year, and thanks to the wonders of social media we’ll be able to share bits of her experience because she has been chosen to appear in a series of short web videos created by the school system about the experience of being a first year teacher.

The first episode has her talking about her hopes and expectations for the beginning of the year. The second episode shows her greeting students on the first day of school.

Some of our clients may remember meeting Ellie because she has worked in the Leesburg office from time to time during her college and graduate school vacations. In watching her transition into her work as a 9th grade English teacher, one of our biggest surprises has been learning how much teachers spend out of pocket to get their classrooms set up.

The average teacher, we have learned, spends $500 a year on materials for their class. We are working on a plan to “adopt” a few classrooms in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Chesterfield Counties, and we are going to challenge other businesses to join us. Our teachers play a huge roll in building the strong foundations of our community, and we are looking forward to joining with others to find some creative ways to support their good work.