School begins Teacher Cadets Program

Batesville High School seniors, front row, from left, Allison McGlothlin, Maggie Seals, Emma Skelton, Hayden Lee and Peyton Olson; and back row, Hudson Anderson and Cody Garner, are the first students to be enrolled in the Arkansas Teacher Cadets Program at the school. The school began enrollment in the program this year to attract upperclassmen to the teaching profession.
Batesville High School seniors, front row, from left, Allison McGlothlin, Maggie Seals, Emma Skelton, Hayden Lee and Peyton Olson; and back row, Hudson Anderson and Cody Garner, are the first students to be enrolled in the Arkansas Teacher Cadets Program at the school. The school began enrollment in the program this year to attract upperclassmen to the teaching profession.

— At Batesville High School, students are already receiving hands-on experience in what it takes to lead a classroom.

For the first time, the school has begun participation in the Arkansas Teacher Cadets Program, a teacher-recruitment program through the Arkansas Department of Education. Seven students, all seniors, are enrolled in the program at the high school, which aims to attract high-schoolers to the teaching profession.

Jennifer Douglas, director of curriculum and instruction for the Batesville School District, said the program is part of the school’s efforts to help students become more college ready and explore various professions.

“We wanted kids to be able to explore teaching as a career at a younger age,” she said. “We’ve had lots of stories and personal experience where you think you want to do something, and you get to college and you figure out, ‘Oh, that’s not for me.’”

The Teacher Cadets Program, which is led by Batesville High School teacher Tammy Gillmore, allows students to earn elective credit for Batesville High School and course credit to use in college, along with receiving 15 hours of field experience. The seven students in the class had to complete an application process for the program, which requires that they be a junior or senior, be interviewed, write an essay and more.

So far in the course, students have produced projects and learned about topics such as multiple intelligences. Throughout the school year, they will learn about topics that include social development, preadolescent and adolescent characteristics, and high-tech learning.

“I think that this class is a great way to get on track,” cadet Peyton Olson said. “I want to be a special-education teacher, so of course, I’m going to need this general-education class to start, but it’ll be fun to jump into some of my core classes that I’ll need to get for my degree.”

Other students in the course also know what kind of teacher they aspire to be. Hudson Anderson, for example, would like to be a history teacher and football coach.

“History is my favorite subject, and I always love talking about history and teaching people about it,” he said. “History is one of the most important things we can learn.”

Hayden Lee, who wishes to pursue elementary education at the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, would also like to lead students in subjects she is strongest in at school.

“I want to be an elementary school teacher,” she said. “If possible, I’d like to do math or science because those were always my strong points in school, and I feel like being an elementary school teacher, that’s the basics, and you’ll use the basics all your life.”

Maggie Seals, who has hopes of attending Arkansas State University-Beebe, said she would like to teach second- and third-graders.

“Without teachers, there would be no other jobs,” she said. “You always have to have someone to help you along and to teach you what to do in certain situations.”

Cadets Program students will obtain 30 hours of observation at the elementary, middle or junior high, and high school levels, as well as teaching at least two classes.

“Not only are you teaching the students, but the students are helping you learn, too,” said cadet Emma Skelton, who aspires to be an elementary-school music teacher. “You learn every single day from the students and learn more about yourself and about them and everything you’re teaching.”

Douglas said she hopes the first group of Teacher Cadets at Batesville High School will inspire more students to join the program.

“We definitely hope it expands,” she said. “The more the word gets out there and kids can see the success of the kids that are in the teacher cadet program now, we obviously hope that it will grow and we’ll have more students interested in teaching.”

Lisa Huff, secondary curriculum coordinator, said there are not enough Arkansas teachers to meet the demand of teaching jobs in the state. She also said that being enrolled in the Teacher Cadet Program in high school can save families money in the long run.

“Financially, it’s a win-win for families,” Huff said. “Unless you get fully paid scholarships for school, this is the cheapest hours you’re ever going to get. It can save families thousands of dollars to do it now instead of paying college tuition rates later.”

Huff said the program also provides students the opportunity to become certified teachers without leaving Batesville. Students can use their concurrent credits earned through the class at UACCB, where they could get a degree.

“This is a great opportunity if a kid thinks at all that they might be interested, for them to explore [teaching] in a nonthreatening way and have a chance to say they’re getting a high-school credit,” Huff said. “It can just be an elective course. If they decide this leads to a career, great. If not, there’s nothing lost. It’s a great opportunity for them to see what teaching is all about.”

Seals said the class also gives the students a competitive edge for when they enter the job market of teaching.

“I think this is something that should be a core class in a way, just because this is a very useful class,” Seals said. “This knowledge is stuff that we’re going to be putting to use, and it’s helping us understand everybody around us.”

Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.

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