YAP cultivates future Houston Co. teachers

Students can be teachers in Houston County, and the school system is there to show them the way.

Kristine Thornburg is the Youth Apprenticeship Coordinator for Houston County and she wants to offer young teachers-to-be as much training and exposure to the world of pedagogy – the method and practice of teaching – that she can.

“Jobs are more in tune with career pathways nowadays, and we try to tie it in more with their career aspirations,” Thornburg said.

This is the third year for the youth apprenticeship program, and teaching is one of the many avenues students can take. Interested and qualified students can find out if they have the makings for being a teacher.

Five local students are currently in the teaching program and are serving internships at county elementary schools:

Madison Jones of Veterans High at Bonaire Elementary with teacher mentor Whitney McCullers;

Lizbeth Reyes of Warner Robins High at C.B. Watson Primary, mentored by Jessica Roberts and Alicia King;

Kaveen Henderson of Veterans High at Hilltop Elementary mentored by Kim Stallworth;

Abby Andrews of Veterans High at Matt Arthur Elementary mentored by Jan Floyd; and

Brianna Bolden of Northside High at Parkwood Elementary mentored by Cara McIntyre.

To get into the program, Thornburg said, a student has to have a teacher recommendation, has to maintain a B average in their classes and has to have a spotless disciplinary record.

“We want the cream of the crop, that’s pretty much our goal,” Thornburg said.

The students take a series of three different courses taught at the Houston County Career Academy: Examining The Profession, Teaching As A Profession, and an internship.

“That third semester, they are exposed to a classroom setting and they are out in the schools some with their mentor,” she said. “Everybody is assigned a mentor; you’re not turned loose. You are a teacher’s aide and are there to assist the teacher.”

It is a big eye-opening experience for students, she said, because, as in real life, things don’t always go according to plan.

“I think our high school students go into this thinking ‘my lesson plan’s perfect’ and it’s all going to be sunshine and then Johnny comes in and does this and disrupts the whole class,” she said. “I would say classroom management is the biggest thing they’re learning. Sometimes it doesn’t go as planned, but yet you’re still the teacher and sometimes you have to have a Plan B in mind. You have to be able to handle it. Not only the disruptive child but also the other 19 who are looking to you for guidance.”

Experience comes into play with classroom and teacher/mentor assignments, said Willis Jones, principal at Bonaire Elementary School.

“We make sure that they work with a seasoned teacher, not a brand new one right out of college, because then you’ll have a situation where you have two teachers learning the ins and outs of teaching,” Jones said. “We prefer the seasoned teacher that’s going to be able to understand things they need to know as far as their choice of a profession.”

He said Madison Jones (no relation) worked with the school the first semester in the fourth grade, and now she is teaching third grade.

Her first-semester experience, in the first period, will prove invaluable, he said

“She got to sit in during planning times, see teachers collaborate with each other on planning lessons,” he said. “The teacher has the autonomy to tailor her class lessons to her style of teaching, and the student teacher would try to stay on the same page. So we’re all teaching the same thing, but teachers’ styles may differ.”

To date, students have been teaching in elementary school, but that will soon change, Thornburg said.

“This year for nine weeks we’re going to have them in sixth grade, to give them that middle school feel,” she said. “We want to encourage that, broaden their horizons and show them what’s out there because they might be perfect for that but not know it.”

The students aren’t playing teacher, they are the teacher, Jones said.

“They are doing teaching; they are never left alone in the class with the students,” he said. “The teacher is always going to be in there or be around there. As they get to know the kids, the teacher will relinquish part of the instruction to that classroom when that youth apprentice teacher is ready to take over.”

Students seem to enjoy the young teachers-in-training, he said.

“The students here are receptive to it. They love it. You get a high school student who’s closer to their age than the instructor and they want to be buddies with them,” he said. “And we tell the YAP teachers that it’s O.K. to be friendly with them but always be aware there’s that line that separates you from them – I’m an instructor in this classroom, you are the student in this classroom.”

The teaching students get evaluated twice a semester by Thornburg, who gives them the 19 standards that they have to align tasks with. Student teachers have to choose five the first time and 10 the second time to show that they have demonstrated that, she said.

It’s not easy gauging the program’s success, Jones and Thornburg said, because it’s just in its third year.

“It’s been successful here, but after only three years, these kids are juniors and seniors in high school, so we haven’t seen any who’ve gone through the program and get their teacher’s degree in college and applied back,” Jones said. “We’ll probably know more in about three or more years.”

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