“My mom is a teacher,” said Gita Noble, the new Hillsboro Middle School sixth-grade math teacher. “My mother has taught elementary grades for 25 years in the Wichita district.”

She said her mother was her inspiration to become a teacher. Noble will be the sole new teacher in USD 410 for the 2010-11 school year, beginning today.

“I wanted to make a difference in kids’ lives,” she said. “I know that sounds sappy, but it’s the truth. Teaching allows you to do that.”

Noble earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Kansas in 1990. She continued her education, receiving a master’s degree in teaching from Friends University in 1995, and building principal certification from Baker University in 2001.

She taught sixth-grade math from 1991 to 1993 at Truesdell Middle School in Wichita. From 1993 to 2000, she was middle school dean of students at Wichita Collegiate School.

From 2000 to 2009, she taught algebra I, math, language arts, world geography, forensics, and speech at Mount Hope Grade School. Noble was an English-as-a-second-language aide at Hillsboro Elementary School for the 2009-10 school year.

She and her husband, Steve, have three daughters.

Three new teachers at Goessel

Band director Robert Tiernay, middle school math and science teacher Jennifer Young, and family and consumer sciences teacher Gina Bergin will join the faculty at USD 411.

Tiernay received a master’s degree in music education from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2002. He and his wife moved to Kansas to be closer to her family.

He taught band for three years in Hesston, where he also directed the “Get Trombonified” annual music festival, celebrating and promoting trombones.

He taught band and jazz in Hutchinson in 2009-10 but was let go due to budget cuts.

Tiernay has performed in numerous jazz bands and other ensembles, including the Aretha Franklin Show, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Bethel College Jazz.

Young is certified to teach middle school math, science, and language arts. She previously taught fifth and sixth grades in Hutchinson.

In 2005 she was named the Davis Foundation Teacher of the Year in Hutchinson.

She also has administrative experience, having been assistant principal in Lyons.

Teaching middle school students is her passion.

Bergin earned her bachelor’s degree in general human ecology and family and consumer sciences in 2009. She taught eight family and consumer sciences courses in one year in Newton.

She is married to agriculture teacher John Bergin.