NORWICH – Chenango County's Retired Teachers' Association held its spring dinner meeting on Wednesday, and two guest speakers discussed some of the challenges teachers are facing in today's education field.

The meeting began at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday at the Canasawacta Country Club in Norwich.

Teachers Lindsay McCandless-Dehaan of Bainbridge-Guilford and Jim Dehaan of Greene spoke about their lives as school teachers and some of the challenges they face.

McCandless-Dehaan said schools are facing multiple ongoing issues including lower enrollment, student welfare concerns, and meeting state expectations.

"We're seeing an increased demand for teachers, but lowered number of scholars seeking out the field," she said. "Because of school threats and active shooters, teaching is now considered as dangerous as working as a first responder, which isn't helping the situation."

She added teachers deal with violence threats and are tasked with promoting the wellbeing students that may be seriously struggling at home.

"I had a student come to me in tears last week, and this wasn't a student that usually came into class upset so I asked her what was wrong," McCandless-Dehaan said. "After she told me, I gave her the best advice I could, and the following day she came into class with a much better disposition; she thanked me for keeping an open door for her."