Among the changes that the end of semester usually brings, a new face will be hanging out at the school. Kevin Hutchens, who graduated from Sandpoint High School with the class of 2012, is finishing off his requirements for his teaching degree by being a student teacher in John Nitcy’s classes.

Student teaching is a college-supervised instructional period, usually the culminating course in a university or college undergraduate education or graduate school program leading to teacher education and certification.

Hutchens got to request which school he was sent to teach at and he chose SHS because he already knew a lot of the teachers and some of the students. Hutchens will be at the high school for the entirety of the third quarter.

“It’s a 10 week internship but I might do some substituting at the end just to do some more teaching,” Hutchens said.

Hutchens took Computer Business Applications I and Accounting (which is what led him to being a teacher) while he attended SHS. He will help instruct the classes Nitcy teaches second semester.

“I’m looking forward to working with someone younger who has fresh ideas and is in line to be in this profession,” Nitcy said.

Taking business and computer classes from Nitcy and Melinda Nieman helped to spark Hutchen’s interest in teaching. He hasn’t decided what age group he wants to teach specifically, though.

“I really like doing stuff with kids so I was thinking how I could combine that [with] computers and business to have a fun career, and I ended up going into teaching,” Hutchens said.

One of the challenges Hutchens will be faced with while working at SHS will be having his younger brother in his classes. Brett Hutchens is a senior and is taking Nitcy’s Accounting I class.

They both have slight hesitations about being in a teacher-student situation with one another, but they are excited to have this experience.

“If I get in trouble he’ll probably take it home and tell our parents or something,” Brett Hutchens said. “But we’re pretty good friends so I think it will be fun.”

They are expected to have a more professional relationship at school than the normal relationship you would see between two brothers.

“At first, I was a little weirded out because I expected him to be a terror and do things just to irritate me,” Kevin Hutchens said. “It’s a pretty small class and he’s actually a pretty nice kid in the class setting, so I’m excited to get to teach him. I’ve watched him grow up and now I get to teach him at the end.”