Andrew Ables stands in front of his biology room Tuesday afternoon. He was recently hired as a new science teacher at Uniontown High School.
Andrew Ables, 30, was hired at a December USD 235 Board of Education meeting as the new Uniontown High School science teacher. He will teach biology, 7th-grade science, and advanced biology.
“We were unable to find a licensed teacher first semester,” said Brett Howard, USD 235 superintendent. This, following former science teacher Sarah Sutton’s departure to teach at Fort Scott Community College starting last summer.
The science position was left open.
There is a shortage of teachers in Kansas, Howard said.
The district turned to Southeast Kansas Education Education Service Center, also known as Greenbush, to fill in the gap.
Through Greenbush Blended Learning, school districts can provide subjects such as foreign languages, advanced mathematics, and sciences they would otherwise be unable to provide, according to its’ website https://www.greenbush.org
Ables hales from Norton, KS with a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education from Fort Hays State University.
“I (taught) my first five years in Stockton, Kansas,” Ables said.
“My family situation changed,” Ables said. “I married a Fort Scott native. We couldn’t find a house in northwest Kansas. She already had a house here. There happened to be a job opening.”
He is married to Ashlee (Phillips) Ables and has two daughters: Caroline-four years old and Harper- six weeks.
Asked what motivated him to become an educator, he replied “Having an immediate impact on lives at one of their most important stages.”
His top priority for the classes he will teach is to prepare his students for college, he said.
Teacher in-service in USD 235 starts today, Jan. 2, and classes start on Jan. 3.
