School leaders remember instructor lost in accident
Erin Netjes, who died in crash in July, recalled fondly by administrator, teacher

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 9:57 AM PDT

ONTARIO — Former Alameda Elementary School Principal Paul Erlebach remembers Erin Netjes as a dedicated teacher who would not give up on any of her pupils.

Netjes, 30, Fruitland, died July 5 after a car crash on the Oregon Slope.

The loss left many of the Ontario School District staff reeling after the tragic accident. Erlebach said he hired Netjes four years ago out of a one-room school house near Burns. She came to Ontario as a temporary teacher for a year, he said, but Netjes did such an excellent job district administrators made the easy decision to hire her permanently.  Netjes, who taught kindergarten at Alameda, completed all of the Reading First training and Erlebach said the results she and the rest of the kindergarten reading team at Alameda garnered were “quite remarkable.” He said after a few years of the program, 95 percent of kindergarteners reached their benchmark in reading by the time they entered first-grade.

“I attribute that to our strong kind of team, which Erin was a very integral part of,” Erlebach said.

Erlebach said the aspect he remembers best about Netjes as an educator, and which impressed him most, was her strong sense of child advocacy. He said Netjes believed every child could succeed, and she would work hard to ensure they did.

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“I guess that was most important for her, that every child counts and that every child could learn,” Erlebach said.

He recalls one of Netjes’ more difficult students who was “just all over the place.”

“I lasted about five minutes with the kids, and Erin spent seven hours with the kid and, at the same time, taught 21 other children,” he said, adding Netjes never complained her students were driving her crazy or ever gave up. “She always had a big, soft heart for all kids. Like I said, she never gave up on any kids.”

Erlebach said Netjes learned quite a bit from Alameda kindergarten teacher Linda Hofmann, who worked her as a mentor, and “In the future she would have been an outstanding teacher.”

“She had all the tools to be a master teacher,” he said, adding he can never forget Netjes’ belief that all students can learn regardless of the difficulties they bring into the classroom. “Erin always gave 110 percent.”

Hofmann said Netjes wanted the best for each of her pupils and worked hard to adapt her teaching practices to suit each child’s needs.

“She was very loving with the children, and they loved her and, of course, wanted to please her,” Hofmann said.

Erlebach said Netjes was also dedicated in other aspects of her life outside the classroom.

“She was a mom and a wife and a career woman,” he said. “She had a lot on her plate, but she came to school with a smile and she left with a smile.”

Netjes’ death certainly affected her team at Alameda and the certified and classified staff, along with the parents and the children, Erlebach said, adding he has spoken with a couple of the staff members who mentioned their loss as well as the difficulty of finding another teacher of her caliber.

“Educationally, we move forward,” Erlebach said. “You have to pick up the pieces and move forward.”

Hofmann said Netjes’ death was an “unbelievable shock.”

“It’s still hard to imagine that it’s real,” she said, adding it will be difficult going into Netjes’ classroom when school begins because it still will be her classroom.

Her enduring legacy — education, Erlebach said, however, lives on with her students.

“She gave the gift of literacy, besides the gift of empathy, and that’s something the kids build on,” he said.

Erlebach said he offered a brief testimonial at Netjes’ funeral, which took place July 11.

“I think it was just important that she was recognized as the teacher and the child advocate that she was,” he said.

Ontario School District Superintendent Dennis Carter also attended the funeral. He said the loss the district is feeling, however, is very different than the loss of Netjes’ family.

“The school district lost a valuable employee,” he said, adding, even while grieving over that loss, administrators must arrange for a new teacher to be hired. He expected that would be done shortly.

But Carter said it is not accurate to say Netjes’ was only an employee or that the loss felt by staff is only professional, adding Netjes’ death will resonate among her coworkers in her grade level and in her building.

“So when something like this happens, there certainly is a hole,” Carter said. “She was very well thought of.”