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02-22-2008, 10:01 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Dec 2007
59 posts, read 64,091 times
Reputation: 15
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Yuma!?!
OK...I have heard many negative things about Yuma, I am hoping to find a job teaching in Arizona and I know Yuma needs teachers. Is the only reason people don't like Yuma because it is a small town, in the middle of know where? I live in a small rural town in Illinois now and love it! The small town I mean, the cold Illinois winters I am very sick of. Do you think for someone who is used to the small town atmosphere would like it there, or are there other reasons to avoid the area?
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02-22-2008, 10:23 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Yuma, AZ
121 posts, read 121,501 times
Reputation: 59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kel9798
are there other reasons to avoid the area?
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Maybe if you don't like earthquakes. The Yuma area has had a rash of mag 5 shakers in the past few weeks.  Even so, I still love living in Yuma... Home Sweet Home for the past 15 years. |
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02-22-2008, 10:28 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2007
524 posts, read 532,144 times
Reputation: 152
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You have to like the heat to live in the desert. Yuma is very hot and it will last until Oct.
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02-22-2008, 11:31 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Yuma, AZ
121 posts, read 121,501 times
Reputation: 59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Havasu
Yuma is very hot and it will last until Oct.
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My son wakeboarding on Thanksgiving Day last year.
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02-23-2008, 07:15 AM
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Member
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Join Date: Dec 2007
59 posts, read 64,091 times
Reputation: 15
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What an awesome picture!!!  |
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02-23-2008, 02:56 PM
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Barn Goddess
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: In a pasture surrounded by terriers
2,097 posts, read 1,558,938 times
Reputation: 683
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 Please do not relocate to Yuma or ANY southwestern city without spending a summer there first. There are absolutely lovely places in northern Arizona where the summers are moderate and the scenery is gorgeous but Yuma is not one of them. It's a big, southern AZ city, not a small town, and I know the people who live there love it...or why would they live there? But I hate seeing folks getting into something they are not ready for and a southern AZ summer is a real shocker for many. Possibly that is WHY they need teachers so badly...  |
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02-23-2008, 03:26 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Nov 2007
38 posts, read 38,012 times
Reputation: 27
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I think someone used to a small town atmosphere will like Yuma. We're an agricultural / snowbird / military town. All 3 of these groups tend to be salt-of-the-earth "normal" people. Even rich people here are mostly agriculture or business owners. Yuma is ~ 1/2 or more hispanic - again, pretty normal people. This weekend everyone is at the Air Show at Marine Corps Air Station. Last weekend it was the SIlver Spur Rodeo. We're bigger than a small town (~ 100,000) so more restaurants and shopping than you're used to. But why people move here and complain that 1) it's hot, 2) there's no nightlife, or 3) there's no 24 hour fill-in-the-blank I don't understand. It is what it is.
I would think most of your challenges as a teacher would be similar to what you face at home. Not many kids who are going further than high school, not many parents pushing / expecting their kids to excel. Lots of single moms, lots of ESOL kids, lots of little gangbangers.
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02-24-2008, 06:27 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2007
443 posts, read 475,980 times
Reputation: 117
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I say go for it. If you don't like it you can always move back but why not give it a shot. There are a ton of mid-west teachers in Yuma. Good luck!
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02-24-2008, 02:01 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 2007
605 posts, read 333,407 times
Reputation: 257
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I wouldn't recommend teaching in Yuma. I currently work in the Foothills which has some of the best elementary schools in Yuma. I am teaching first grade and have about 6 boys in my class who act like little thugs. I had 2 boys say he wanted to kill someone, one show his genitals in art class, two of them showed the middle finger, one boy said Kiss my a## to the whole class, one boy put another in a headlock, one boy wanted to throw a chair across the room. I could go on but I really don't want to. Even my principal said I have a bunch of jerks in my class. I don't want to teach in Yuma any more. I never had this many challenging students in one class when I was student teaching in the Midwest. I hope to find a job back there this summer. I am considering leaving teaching but I thought about trying a different school first to see if it got any better. Here in Yuma teachers don't get a lot of support, unemployment is high so many parents don't work, and there are a lot of parents basically doing slave labor because they are illegal immigrants and can't find any other job. Oh, did I mention you also have to deal with groups like T4S who come in and all they do is criticize your teaching.
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02-24-2008, 02:31 PM
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Member
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Join Date: Dec 2007
59 posts, read 64,091 times
Reputation: 15
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Thank you all for the feedback. Everyones advice is very helpful. I will definitely take everything said into consideratoin when making my desicion.
Thanks again!!!  |
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