The Nebo School Board of Education members were delighted to learn more about Nebo’s Grow Your Own program. Nebo's Grow Your Own program is focused on preparing students who would like to pursue a degree in Education.
Whitney Carter, the coordinator of this program said, “By providing this program, we hope to motivate these amazingly talented future educators to return to Nebo School District to teach!”
Nebo’s program currently includes three Teaching as a Profession (TAP) classes: TAP 1 and 2, which are offered at each of the five high schools in the district and TAP 3, which is offered at the Advanced Learning Center. This class includes a year long internship in a classroom, teaching alongside one of the amazing teachers in our district.
Educators Rising is another portion of Nebo’s program. It is a district-wide Career and Technical Student Organization for students that are interested in becoming a teacher.
Sayde Swenson then spoke to the Nebo Board of Education and said she graduated from Payson High School in 2021 and has been a part of UVU's Elementary Education program for the past year. She just received an internship at Brookside Elementary teaching second grade.
Sayde exclaimed, “I could not be more excited about it! While I was in high school, I had the wonderful opportunity to take Teaching as a Profession 1 and 2 during my senior year. I was also an officer for Educators Rising both my junior and senior year. My junior year, I was the secretary. My senior year I was vice president and later acting president. I am so grateful for what I learned in TAP 1 and 2 and for the experiences I had in Educators Rising. Everything I learned in high school helped me throughout college, and it got me to where I am today.”
Samara Kassuhn is currently a senior at Payson High School. She is participating in Educators Rising, Teaching as a Profession 1, 2, and 3.
Samara said, “Teaching as a Profession has been such an amazing opportunity for me. I wasn't sure I wanted to teach, so I took Teaching as a Profession to see what it would be like. I wanted to get a feel of what being a teacher is actually like before I went into college and paid thousands of dollars, and realized I'm not cut out for it.”
In Teaching as a Profession 1 and 2, students learn how to create lessons and explore different types of teaching skills. The students create lessons and present/practice and then go and actually teach classes in different schools.
In Teaching as a Profession 3, students have class for the first hour. During this time they learn about classroom technology applications and how to use them in different settings, lessons, etc. After that first hour of learning in the class, students intern in a live classroom. In the live classroom, the students teach the whole class, instruct in small groups, and even work one-on-one with students. Observing teachers is truly helpful. Students reflect on the teacher's performance and various situations with students, time management, and problem solving.
Samara also stated, “Taking Teaching as a Profession has really given me a head start going into college. I already have so much experience being in a live classroom as well as experience in teaching, working with students, and classroom technology! I am so grateful The ALC has this program to make me become a better teacher and feel confident that this is the right career path for me!”
CTE Coordinator, Alan Ashton, said, “The Teaching as a Profession course allows students the opportunity to experience teaching and decide if it is something they like before spending the money on tuition. It is a great way to take the best of Nebo and grow our own teachers.”
Photo: Teacher Laurie Hansen, Whitney Carter, Samara Kassuhn, Sayde Swensen, Alan Ashton
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