“This program helps prepare students to work in a teaching setting,” explained Mrs. Nicolette Kirby, head of the Education Career Department. The Education Careers Track at North Point is geared to help aspiring educators get the help they need to pursue their future career.
Whether they are playing outside or singing a song, there is never a dull moment with the children.
Kirby juggles teaching her high school students and watching over the children in child day daily. “Working with the high school students and the children in our program is very busy. It requires a lot of planning and organizing. Ultimately, I have to be flexible. Also, you never know from day to day what may need changing.” Even thought it can get hectic at times, Kirby feels most rewarded “to watch the students as they grasp new ideas and then be able to use the new knowledge.”
Jelilat Williams (’12) chose to apply to Education Careers “because I like working with young children.” With having about sixty children attending the Child Care and First Flight Centers at North Point, Williams learned “that they can be surprising at times and you have to be patient with them but they’re a lot of fun.” Williams hopes to use what she has learned to use on her own children in the future.
Education Careers is not only fun, but very rewarding as well. “Students can work immediately in a Child Care setting as assistants. They can continue their education at CSM to work as instructional assistants in the public school or they can continue their education at a four year college to prepare for early childhood, elementary or secondary teaching.”
With being in the Education Careers program throughout all their high school years, seniors discover new information that can help them in the future. Erin Tillman (’12) “realized how much work goes into teaching,” and was pleased that she was able to put all her knowledge from the classroom to use. Karlee Winzenburg (’12) hopes to “continue on and maybe become an educator or a teaching aid.”
During a student’s senior year in the Education program, students have a chance to intern at local schools to continue their training and to get a true feeling of what it is like if they chose to pursue a certain grade level to teach.
Education Career students learn about human growth and development, different teaching environments, management techniques, how to make lesson plans and to overall be professional. “All of these things are taught, and then applied to our Child Care and preschool.” Kirby went on to say that “it is important to know and understand the diversity of the students you are going to work with.”
If you have the desire to learn and help others and thinking about pursuing a career as an educator in the near future, Education Careers could be just right for you.