Ritzville School District welcomes three new educators: Sierra Breidenbach

With the school year officially underway throughout the county, the Ritzville School District has hired three educators to work within Ritzville Grade School and Lind-Ritzville High School this year.

The new hires share the same enthusiasm for having the opportunity to work within Ritzville and look forward to watching their students grow as individuals while they simultaneously continue to develop as teachers.

In the upcoming weeks, follow The Journal for profiles on the new educators in the Lind and Washtucna School Districts.

In a bustling first grade classroom, students met Sierra Breidenbach as their new teacher when the school year began at Ritzville Grade School.

With an average of 27 students in the first grade classroom, Breidenbach has her hands full but she is excited for the challenge and the opportunity to help the group develop as students.

Breidenbach is a graduate of Liberty High School, and was born and raised in Spangle. Her familiarity with Ritzville because of its proximity to Spangle helped her decision to apply for the job.

She attended Washington State University and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in elementary education.

Aside from her degree, Breidenbach also began taking courses for a degree in special education. She currently has accumulated nine credits and hopes to return to school to finish the Masters program.

Growing up on a farm, Breidenbach said Ritzville is an easy transition to make as she is acclimated to small town life. She enjoys the small town lifestyle, but her interests throughout the year include extreme sports, like skiing and snowboarding, as well as water sports.

Breidenbach completed her student teaching in Spokane, and she explained she worked in a classroom with 38 students. The experience in that classroom has helped prepare her for being a solo teacher in the midst of nearly 30 students in Ritzville.

For Breidenbach, she has always been drawn to the kindergarten through second grade age level because of their excitement for learning and generally “spunky” attitude.

She appreciates the sharing of knowledge, as she believes the students have as much to teach her as she does to teach them.

In her first year teaching, Breidenbach is focused on ensuring each student improves and is prepared for second grade.

Her personal goal this year is to incorporate new classroom management techniques that are effective for all of the students.