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Katie DeSpain joins TMS

Fifth-grade teacher, Katie DeSpain comes to Thermopolis Middle School from Montana, where she was born and raised.

DeSpain grew up in Laurel, Mont. and attended college at the University of Montana Western in Dillon before getting her bachelor's degree in elementary education.

Her first assignment as a teacher was a combination classroom in Rapelje, Mont. where she taught fifth and sixth grade in one room.

DeSpain married her husband, Dean, in May, and the pair decided they wanted to be somewhere a little larger and the opportunity to come to TMS was the perfect fit.

Her husband is a wildland firefighter in the summer, but has been working at Gottsche now that fire season is over.

As a teen, DeSpain had plans to become a pharmacist.

That all changed when she had the chance to work with a Montessori Day Care.

"I found that I just loved kids," she said.

She finds that a lot of the things she's teaching in fifth grade are the same as when she was in fifth grade, but said, "I look out into the classroom and I think wow, that was me once."

DeSpain is thrilled with how things work at TMS, especially the collaboration.

"It's really awesome," she said. "You're able to work on lesson plans as a grade rather than individually. There are so many different ways to teach and kids all learn differently, so it's good to have access to other methods."

Along with her teaching duties, DeSpain will be taking on the head coaching position for middle school girl's basketball.

 

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