PULASKI COUNTY, Ark. -- Two Pulaski County Special School District high schools are finding ways to encourage students to enter the field of education after graduation.
The Orientation to Teaching program is available at Maumelle and Sylvan Hills High Schools for students who are interested in a career in education. The two-year program offers students the opportunity to actually spend time in a classroom setting and even teach lessons.
“This course is what I did in college, but at a high school level,” said Orientation to Teaching instructor, Lacy Copley. “I like for kids to explore what education is and is not. They really get a sense of if education is a future career option for them.”
Copley wrote the initial grant to fund the Orientation to Teaching program at PCSSD about five years ago.
Two current teachers at PCSSD participated in the program in high school, Dawn Scott, a first grade teacher at Sylvan Hills Elementary School, and Michaela Malone, a science teacher at Sylvan Hills High School.
“I loved being able to participate in the Orientation to Teaching program in high school,” said Scott. “It was a wonderful introduction to the field of education. I learned about lesson planning and working cooperatively with other teachers.”
“I was able to come up with my own lesson plans and teach them to third graders as just a high school student,” said Malone. “It was this experience that showed me that I would love being a teacher -- getting to influence the lives of my students and watch them grow as students and as people.”
The program is available for juniors and seniors and involves both foundations and methods of education courses.
| Michaela Malone Sylvan Hills High |
| Dawn Scott Sylvan Hills Elementary |
