At the Winona Career and Technical Center, those dreaming of teaching as a career can get a taste of what life will be like in the classroom, thanks to the new Teacher Academy.
Holly Bridges said Teacher Academy replaced a former business technology class last year. In its first year, the students are off to a great start.
“We learned the Mississippi Code of Ethics for Teachers,” she said.
For the girls, they said it’s a chance to learn the ins-and-outs of teaching and how to control their classrooms.
“I know it can be a hassle handling us,” Ideisha Buckhalter said.
Karli Long said her favorite part is working with the third graders at Winona Elementary School. Like student teachers, the Teacher Academy students gain field experience by working with seasoned teachers at the elementary school.
“They assist the teacher, they help with anything she needs help with and they’ve even created a bulletin board at the elementary school,” Bridges said.
Although none of the girls have decided to go into the educational field, it’s a way for them to see another option to their life plan and as we all know life can change your plans. Who knows, they may end up in a classroom.
As of now, Long and Emma Rickles want to be nurses, Anderson wants to a veterinarian, and Buckhalter wants to be a lawyer. However, in order to be any of those, they all must be taught in their field. Bridges said the girls can still take what they have learned and utilize it.
“For those who want to be nurses, they can also go into the hospital rooms and teach the students who are sick in the hospitals,” Bridges said.
She said her hope is that at least one of her students, takes her route and come back into the district and teach.
“I’ve been teaching for 20 something years,” she said. “I’ve always known I wanted to be a teacher, and I’ve always known I wanted to teach back home in Winona.”
Bridges graduated from Winona High School, went to college and earned her degree and was hired at the district.
“I started out as a first grade teacher, and I did that for 15 years. I taught second grade a year, I was a reading and ELA interventionist for seven years, and I worked with both the elementary and high school, but this is my first secondary class.”
Bridges said she uses stories from her first few years teaching as a tool to tell her students what to do and what not to do.
When asked if they thought by becoming a bigger school, more classes like Teacher Academy were brought in that may interest them, they all agreed that the consolidation of the two school districts have brought about some good things and Teacher Academy is one of them.
