Ever since junior Jessica Traub was in the class of Julie Boczek, Westbrook Elementary second grade teacher, Traub has wanted to be an educator. Boczek made every student feel loved and noticed which inspired Traub to want to do the same, Traub explained. Whether an elementary school teacher inspired them or a South class helped shape their passion, a handful of students are following the path of their past educators.
Traub’s passion for education flourished because of the impactful teachers she encountered; this impact is common as 43 percent of South’s students reported that they were inspired by a teacher at one point to pursue education, according to a non-scientific survey of 305 students conducted by The Oracle. Additionally, 16 percent of students report their career plans include becoming a teacher, according to The Oracle survey. Traub got involved with the education electives to prepare for her future and is now in Early Childhood Education III.
“I love teaching the preschoolers and getting to do hands-on activities with them as it made me want to be a teacher even more because it’s been so fun,” Traub said.
Senior Grace Carlson has also been in South’s education classes since her freshman year and will major in Elementary Education at The University of Missouri next year. As part of the Teaching Internship class, she helped first graders at Henking Elementary with reading and writing, she said.
“[The Teaching Internship class] made me realize that I do not want to teach that young because it was the same thing every day which could get boring, so I would rather work with older kids who I can connect with more,” Carlson said.
Another opportunity for students to get teaching experience is through South’s Titan Teaching Assistant Program (TAP). English Teacher Gwen Quigley enjoys watching her TAs’ comfort level grow throughout the year as they continue to build rapport with the freshman and gain teaching experience. Quigley was once a high schooler striving to be an educator as well. In high school, Quigley observed how her teachers ran their classes and the reasoning behind certain assignments, Quigley added.
“Students who want to be teachers in the future [should] look around at the teachers in front of [them] and think through who has a teaching style that might be similar to [their’s] in the future,” Quigley said.
Senior Mae Mae Kuhn, Geometry Honors Teacher’s Assistant (TA), is interested in education and reached out to her Math Teacher John O’Malley and asked to become a TA. With this teaching experience, she is looking forward to taking those lessons with her as she majors in Mathematics Secondary Education at the University of Missouri.
“[By] being a Teacher’s Assistant, I learned that kids learn differently and every teacher has their own style so you have to accommodate your lessons to how your class learns,” Kuhn said.
