The AIU’s Career Connections program allows students to explore careers through multiple-day learning experiences. The Future Teachers Academy is a four-session career education opportunity for ninth to 12th grade students interested in teaching. The program reflects the facilitators’ shared belief that connecting with students is at the heart of effective teaching.
“Because no learning takes place unless you have a relationship and have connections with the kids. You have to see what their interests are. If you can connect to the children that you’re teaching, that’s the magic,” said Kathy Harrington, a lifelong educator who has taught eighth grade reading and held several school administrator roles.
This belief in the power of connection has shaped the work of the program’s facilitators, who first crossed paths nearly two decades ago at Pine Richland Middle School. Harrington had started there as assistant principal before serving 15 years as principal. Co-facilitator Susan Frantz, who taught eighth grade English, noticed a lot of middle school students were already showing an interest in pursuing teaching and asking questions like “How do I become a teacher?” That’s when she had the idea to partner with the AIU to launch the Future Teachers Academy.
Inside the Academy
One common theme Harrington has noticed is nearly every student who signs up for the Future Teachers Academy has had an influential teacher who they aspire to be like one day. “They say, ‘I want to be a teacher, and I want to be like Mrs. Smith or Mr. Jones,’” she said. “Then we ask them what was it about those teachers that made them want to be teachers? The answers are amazing: ‘A teacher who listened.’ ‘A teacher who cares.’ ‘A teacher who showed me that I could be more than I ever thought I could be.’”
Academy participants visit schools and speak with teachers at each level preschool, elementary, upper elementary, middle, and high school. “It’s almost like they are in a field placement in a teacher prep program,” Harrington said. They often talk about the pros and cons of being a teacher. “We are offering them insight they don’t get to see in their own schools,” Frantz said.
Throughout the course of four sessions, students learn how to make lesson plans and have a chance to teach a mini creative lesson to their peers. They also discuss what you need to do to get into a good teacher prep school. Students often want to know if they can do anything right now to prepare. Frantz suggests signing up to be a camp counselor or tutoring students at their own school.
Today, Harrington and Frantz supervise student teachers at local colleges, including Chatham, Duquesne, and the University of Pittsburgh. And every now and then, they encounter student teachers who had participated in the Future Teachers Academy as high school students. Amy Davis McShane, AIU coordinator of career education and academic events, estimates that about 400 students have participated in the Future Teachers Academy since its inception.
Visit aiu3.net/careerconnections to learn more.