Photo courtesy of Marci Bossuyt and Nicholas Dunn. Marci Bossuyt and Nicholas Dunn are in their first year teaching at Park Side Elementary and the middle school, and are also originally from Marshall. Bossuyt teaches special education and Dunn teaches language arts. 

MARSHALL — The Marshall school district welcomed 17 new teachers this school year. Among those are Nicholas Dunn and Marci Bossuyt, who are both Marshall natives and are now teaching in the classrooms they grew up in. 

“It’s definitely been a little bit of a perspective change,” Dunn said. “I remember growing up with them (teachers), too. They have such kind hearts, and they’re always willing to help me out, always willing to give me advice, resources and anything to help me develop more into this ever-growing career.” 

Both Dunn and Bossuyt attended Holy Redeemer School from Kindergarten to 8th grade, then went to Marshall High School until graduation. 

Bossuyt works in special education at Park Side Elementary, and Dunn teaches 6th grade language arts at the middle school. 

“The staff I have gotten to know since starting at Park Side have all been amazing, and always happy to answer any questions I may have,” Bossuyt said. “I appreciate them being willing and able to share their knowledge and experience with me, because I’ll take any and all help that I can get, as I always tell them.” 

Both Dunn and Bossuyt went away for college, but found themselves back in Marshall. 

Dunn did a year at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., then transferred to Concordia College in Moorhead for the remainder of his degree. He returned to Marshall for student teaching, which developed into a job offer. 

“I love Marshall, but it definitely was not a goal to come back here. It’s just how it worked out,” Dunn said, who also is the middle school speech coach and assistant coach for the high school team. “I’m here right now, I’m going to make the most of it … I am enjoying what I’m doing.” 

Dunn did his student teaching at Holy Redeemer and taught 7th and 8th grade science, which he said he thoroughly enjoyed, and moved to the middle school to gain more experience with bigger classrooms. 

Bossuyt didn’t have a set path upon graduating college, and was rather open to trying new things. 

“My college journey is different than most people. I attended four different colleges, and I took a year and a half off of college. I graduated from Mankato State University this past May, and I was applying for jobs all over the place this summer,” Bossuyt said. “Teaching wasn’t really on my radar, but when this position came about, I was like, ‘Well, why not give it a shot and see how it goes.’ It’s been great so far.” 

Bossuyt said the district reached out to her to see if she would be interested in applying for Park Side’s special education position, and it worked out from there. 

Both Dunn and Bossuyt said they have been enjoying their first year so far and learning to grow as educators. 

“It’s been a learning curve, as I’m sure many first year teachers feel,” Bossuyt said. “It’s been an adjustment, and I’m slowly but surely figuring it out, and always talking to my mentor teachers and other staff at Park Side.” 

Dunn echoed the idea of entering the new career with nerves, but knowing he has a support system. 

“I think that the Marshall public school district really prepared me for teaching,” Dunn said. “I had two great mentor teachers. As much as I complained about it, and as much as I was like, ‘I don’t think I can do it,’ they said, ‘Nope, you’re fine. Here you go,’ and they just threw me into the classroom.” 

Dunn spent his middle school student teaching placement last spring with Barbara Wendt, who teaches science, and Sorcha Vikter, who teaches English. He said they both built more confidence in him going into year one. 

“(Going into the year) I feel like I should be more stressed out, but I wasn’t, because I had those two who really showed me you just take it day by day,” Dunn said. “After that first class, you realize what you’re doing, and the rest of the day, it can only go uphill from there.” 

Dunn, like Bossuyt, also went into an area of unfamiliar territory going into language arts. 

“Being a student who really did not like language arts growing up … Coming full circle and now, inevitably, teaching English, reading and grammar, which wasn’t my strong suit, I really find myself relating to them (students) on that deeper level,” Dunn said. 

After once being in their seats, Dunn has gotten creative in his first few months in trying to inspire his students to get into the lessons. 

“I have a lot of students now who are like, ‘Mr. Dunn, I just don’t like reading,’ … I’m like, ‘Why don’t you try this book out? This is a book I really liked,’ Dunn said. “I did that with one student, and now every time he comes into my classroom, he always says, ‘Mr. Dunn, can I please read this book?’ … I’m watching them just get excited about reading. It makes me happy.” 

Becoming colleagues with their previous teachers has been a change, to which both Bossuyt and Dunn joked about. 

“It’s a full circle moment type of thing … My high school teachers are now my colleagues, like that’s a weird thing,” Bossuyt said, laughing. “Like, I could be calling them by their first name now as co-workers, but in my head, they’re still my teacher.” 

Bossuyt and Dunn said they enjoyed their time growing up at Holy Redeemer and the high school, and are taking everything in about being first year teachers with their first group of students. 

“I’m just excited to continue to see the kids grow and learn,” Bossuyt said. “I see where they’re at now at the beginning of the year, and I’m excited to see where they’re at at the end of the year, and how much they’ve grown.” 

Dunn also is looking forward to seeing how the year progresses. 

“We’re (teachers and students) both growing a lot. I’m excited to see where that will take me towards the end of the year,” Dunn said. “As long as they leave my classroom with a better character than when they got there, that’s all I can ask for.”