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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- August is that time of the year where kids are getting ready to go back to school and parents are worried about getting them everything they need to be prepared for the new school year. But what about teachers, and especially those who have never taught before. To get some perspective, KTVO talked to one new teacher in the Ottumwa Community School District about what he is doing to prepare for his first year teaching.

Curtis Lundgren is one of the 37 new teachers in the Ottumwa Community School District and it's his first time having his own classroom. He'll be teaching seventh grade English.

So far, he says the professional development days have prepared him to get the school year off to a great start.

The Ohio native and Iraq veteran says he found a love for teaching while studying English at Wittenberg University in southern Ohio.

"I realized I really like reading and writing and I like the whole process of learning so it seemed a good fit, and of course kids are fun," said Lundgren.

Before he headed off to the classroom, he hiked around the United States and then enlisted in the Army, where he completed a 15-month tour in Iraq. He says he could probably bring a little bit of the battlefield discipline and readiness into the classroom.

"I hope the experience there was more scary. I imagine it will be. I think that perhaps a level of professionalism...it's really important to be professional, to be ready, to be prepared and I certainly hope to do that here. everyday."

Lungren says one of the things he is most excited about is teaching the 7 traits of good writing.

"I'm becoming familiar with these traits of writing and do a good job of pinpointing the areas where students can work and really become good writers when they put them all together. So, hopefully my strength is that I can teach and I can also build an excitement about writing and writing well."

After living in Japan and El Paso, where he received his Master's in Education at the University of Texas, he says he's ready to raise his family here in Ottumwa and hopes to be around in the same classroom 10 years from now.