DirectConnect to Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ program<\/a>. Upon achieving their bachelor\u2019s degree and Florida state teacher certification, which they can complete at Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½\u2019s elementary education program on site at the Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ Connect South Lake Center in Clermont, participants are guaranteed a job interview with Lake County Schools.<\/p>\n\u201cWe want to grow the teachers who know about the culture and community in Lake County,\u201d says Bonnie Watkins, the Tavares High School teacher who leads the academy. \u201cOur hope is that these experiences solidify [the students\u2019] desire to become teachers and fulfill the needs in our classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Marni Kay, Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ instructor of reading education, the value of the academy is to place qualified, passionate, purposeful teachers in classrooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe critical teaching shortage is the reason the Tavares Teaching Academy was started to intentionally show high school students what college will look like for them,\u201d she says \u201cWe\u2019re working to grow our own right in Lake County so that they\u2019re able to start in Lake County schools, do service-learning partnerships with kids in their own community, and then become teachers in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Watkins, the strength of Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½\u2019s elementary education program and its presence in Lake County are key to the partnership.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur students receive the benefit of shared resources from Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½, as well as advice from a Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ instructor,\u201d she says. \u201cWe work together to create valuable field experiences that are essential to the success of the Teaching Academy program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fueling Collaboration<\/h2>\n Building a pathway for future teachers also involves bringing the high school and college students together for collaborative events and mentoring. The groups recently met at Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ Connect South Lake Center in Clermont to celebrate International Dot Day, a recognition of the works of children\u2019s author Peter H. Reynolds. Thirty-five Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ students worked with 17 Teaching Academy students through six educational stations that reinforced the methods they\u2019ll use one day to teach children to read. It\u2019s this type of hands-on, practical experience that will fuel their success when theory becomes reality in their own classrooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so important to connect the research into action,\u201d Kay says. \u201cWe model for students what they can do in their own classrooms and help them develop successful teaching strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n
It all adds up to Tavares Teaching Academy graduates who are better prepared to succeed in college \u2014 and in leading a classroom after they graduate from Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ and become certified by the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese students will have a head start because they will have already spent time in front of a class,\u201d Luke says. \u201cIn fact, as college instructors, we\u2019ll need to step it up when we have this level of student coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the high school students, spending time with their college counterparts helps reinforce why they participate in the academy.<\/p>\n
“I enjoyed the opportunity to work with students who have the same passion as me, but are also role models since they’re older,\u201d says Ashley Ellixson, a Tavares High School junior. \u201cMeeting new people who are from different walks of life, but who also share the same interest, was an eye-opening experience.”<\/p>\n
And there are benefits for the Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ teaching students, as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like a role model, trying to help the high schoolers understand what the expectations of being an elementary education student are at Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½,\u201d says junior Kira Dowling. \u201cIt\u2019s giving back to the community because these students are going to be in my position one day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The connections the students will build during the program are valuable beyond what the coursework will produce, because, as the instructors explain, teaching is a team effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeaching is not an isolated event,\u201d says Kay. \u201cTeaching should be a community partnership, because in the end we\u2019re all in it to serve students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ and Lake County Schools are building a local pathway to supply new teachers to meet an urgent need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":103741,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[17177,1323,1521,17929,15761,17303],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-103583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","tag-college-of-community-innovation-and-education","tag-direct-connect-to-ucf","tag-elementary-education","tag-main-site-stories","tag-pegasus-briefs","tag-ucf-connect"],"yoast_head":"\n
Âé¶¹Ó³»´«Ã½ partners with Lake County Schools on local teacher training pathway<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n