EPHRATA — Tristyn Eldredge has come full circle in her journeys around Columbia Ridge Elementary School in Ephrata. She started there as a student, then came back as a paraprofessional and this year, she’s at the head of a fourth-grade classroom as a teacher.

“One of the biggest things that I’m looking forward to is just giving back to the school that, you know, that shaped me into who I am,” Eldredge said.

The path to becoming a teacher was a bit of a winding road, Eldredge said, with her initial goal being to study criminal justice and become a juvenile probation officer. She had always wanted to work with children and help them make better lives for themselves. However, in her 20s, she got sidetracked by life and eventually realized that the criminal justice field simply wasn’t working out for her. She did complete her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and corrections from Washington State University, but the next step toward a master's degree pulled her toward an accelerated program with Grand Canyon University. That eventually pushed her into the student teaching requirement.

“So, last year, I actually started the school year student teaching in Mrs. Stadeleman’s kindergarten classroom at Columbia Ridge,” Eldredge said. “And, in December of 2022, I graduated with my master’s in elementary education from Grand Canyon University.”

Graduation came at the end of her student teaching requirement. She had applied for a third-grade reading specialist position, which she got, and she started with the district as a paraeducator, she said. She filled that role through the end of last school year, but then was offered that position full-time for the 2023-24 school year along with the opportunity to have her own fourth-grade class. She opted to head up her own classroom, though in a changed campus from when she attended classes at Columbia Ridge due to recent renovations.

“To me, it seems very similar,” Eldredge said. “I mean, the gym is still in the same place. The cafeteria zone, that’s kind of the same place. The music room is a little different. The music room was in the cafeteria for me (when I attended Columbia Ridge as a student).”

She appreciates that the face of the school building was preserved as much as possible though. “The fact that they left the brick on the outside, to me, is cool because that just makes it so familiar,” she said. “I mean, that’s kind of instantly what comes to mind when I think of Columbia Ridge.”

Overall though, the layout is mostly the same, she said, though the facility has been upgraded and the hallways color-coded to help students and visitors find their way around. The security vestibule and front office are arranged differently to ensure safety, but still, the campus feels familiar, like a home of sorts, she said.

There are even familiar faces in staff meetings, with some of the teachers who taught her still roaming the halls at various Ephrata School District campuses.

“Darcy Jensen is a fourth-grade teacher, and she was actually my English Language Arts teacher at the middle school in seventh and eighth grades,” Eldredge said.

Sharon Scellick now works as a district employee on the administrative side of things but was Eldredge’s fourth grade teacher. Several other names come to mind as familiar from when she attended school as a young Tiger, but they’re scattered throughout the district rather than at Columbia Ridge, Eldredge said.

Getting ready for the school year took a great deal of work, prepping for a class of 27 students, she said. Still, with the help of experienced teachers and staff who have helped develop the curriculum already in place, she said it was an exciting experience. Being with a team that was present and able to advise her was amazing.

“And also just being so willing to help, you know. They never feel like, ‘Hey, (your) questions are bothersome or over the top,’ and they’re always willing to lend a helping hand.”

Eldredge said she’s happy to be at Columbia Ridge, where she knows she’ll be able to fulfill her goals of helping students succeed.

“My first year, I’m also very excited because I know so many of (my students) because I worked with them last year,” she said.

R. Hans “Rob” Miller may be reached at editor@columbiabasinherald.com.

Correction: Eldredge student-taught with Mrs. Stadleman. This correction has been incorporated above.