The first day of school may not always mean new faces. This is, after all, a community of only a few thousand. The students generally know each other and the teachers may also be neighbors.

But the 2011-12 academic year is different.  Kimball Public Schools hired several new staff members over the summer, including six teachers and one principal.

"You hate to lose good people," said superintendent Troy Unzicker of the outgoing staff, "but bringing in new blood, new ideas, new thought processes is always good."

The crop of incoming instructors includes veterans, two young first time teachers and one transferring over from a job at Clean Harbors thanks to a state program allowing certification for those with relevant experience.

"It's a good mix," Unzicker said. "It's going to be fun."

Mike Mitchell was initially hired to take over junior high science courses. When elementary principal Robert Alderson resigned, however, Mitchell was asked to fill the administrative post.

A graduate of Chadron State, Mitchell has been teaching--and running schools--for 35 years, or ever since his former football coach told him "you always liked working with students, why not try teaching?"

David Thelen takes over as music instructor for the system, working with students from elementary through high school. A veteran of 16 years in the classroom, as well as time with the Sandhill Symphony Orchestra and Heartland Singers, Thelen played clarinet for much of his career. Yet he's also versed in saxophone, oboe, trumpet and voice.

Thelen began teaching after graduating from the University of Wyoming. "I was appointed associate director for the Laramie High School band," he recalled. "And I really enjoyed it."

Jessica Harvie assumed the pre-kindergarten role--her first teaching position after graduating from Dort College in Sioux Center, Iowa.

"It's very exciting," he said of the job. "I announced it to all my friends immediately."

Even before college, Harvie planned for a teaching career. "I never wanted to do anything else," she explained.

Already the personable young woman feels at home in Kimball, pointing out people readily approach her and introduce themselves.

Jenn Dillinger also takes over at the front of the classroom for the first time, as science instructor for junior and senior high students. She is not, however, a recent graduate. After earning a degree in biology from Chadron State, she worked at Clean Harbors for ten years.

"It's going to be a huge change for me," Dillinger admitted, "but one I'll enjoy."

As part of the state certification program, she will take education courses and receive input from professors and colleagues--so she will be graded at the same time she grades others. It's a unique situation. But, she said, "I was ready for a new challenge."

Sheilla Dea becomes the new Special Education instructor--a position she's held for seven years, most recently in O'Neill.

She understands the needs of special education students intimately. One of her children had a learning disability. But she enjoys the setting because, as she pointed out, "no one day is the same."

Dea earned an undergraduate degree from Peru State College and a master's from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Tonia Gamblin enters as the new kindergarten teacher at West Elementary--her first position since graduating from UNL in December.

"I was planning on moving to Lincoln," she explained, adding that the offer was somewhat unexpected. While searching for a teaching job, she worked at Main Street Market as a cashier.

Gamblin loves teaching younger children. And she's excited about the start of school.

"I'm ready," she said. "I'm done waiting."

New high school Spanish teacher Anna Gilpin is so fluent, native speakers often mistake her for Mexican.

She learned the language 22 years ago thanks, she explained, to "a really cute guy" she later married. A veteran of 13 years in the classroom, Gilpin makes a point  teach the differences between Spanish in Spain, Mexico and other regions.

As with many of the other new hires, Gilpin always had a knack for the classroom. When she fell in love with language, the two skills meshed nicely.

"The hardest part," she said, "is getting the students to love it as much as I do."

Gilpin is a graduate of Wayne State College and is working on a master's degree.