By Rose Nava
Student teaching is usually the last requirement for a prospective teacher, and each year about 200,000 teaching candidates pair up with experienced teachers to learn about the job in a real classroom. Many higher learning institutions require their college students to spend their last semester gaining this real-world experience before they get their teaching certification.
Here at Indian Trail High School & Academy, several student teachers are on the last leg of their education certification, including two student gym teachers Cody Han and Andrew Powers.
The Pulse took a few minutes to learn more about their experiences.
Q: Can you tell me a little about yourself?
Han: I’m obviously a P.E teacher here. I love sports so that’s why I got into it. I’m from a really small town in Illinois, I came up here and went to Carthage College. I played football for a couple years with Mr. Powers. Fun fact, we were actually roommates.
Powers: I also came from a small town and it’s actually not much bigger than this school. I played football at Carthage. I originally wanted to be a meteorologists but then I changed that because I realized it was unrealistic. I changed it to P.E. and Health teacher.
Q: What do you enjoy most about this experience?
Han: So far, I like the variety of people. There are a lot of people in P.E who are either very skilled in different things or have different interests. You get to know a lot of people and it’s really fun.
Powers: I like the relationships with the students, everybody I work with and who I’ve met throughout the whole school. It’s just cool to be part of an actual school organization rather than who you have at your college. So it’s nice to be part of this whole organization, that means students and teachers.
Q: What made you choose P.E?
Han: I like sports and physical activities. Teaching has played a big roll in my life. It’s a big part of my family, my mom is an English teacher in middle school and my sister is a middle school teacher at Mahone (Middle School). She teaches sixth grade geography. It’s Ms. Han, if anyone has ever had her as a teacher. Education just always played a big roll with me growing so I’ve always liked it.
Powers: I chose teaching mainly because I wanted to do something that I love. Teaching sports is by far one of the most fun things you can do. It’s what I’m passionate about so that just always helps. When choosing something I wanted to chose something nobody in my family has ever done. I wanted to get away from everything my family has done and try to start my own path. That’s the main reason I chose P.E.
Q: What advice would you give to students?
Han: I’d say venture out of your comfort zone, that’s the biggest thing. If you just go home every day and if you do too much of the same thing, you don’t really get to experience too much, but some of the best times you’re going to have are the spontaneous adventures. Definitely look out there to see what is there to do and try to find something new every once in awhile.
Powers: I agree with that. I think a lot of people get stuck in their everyday routine. They go from class to class and then they don’t venture out from what they normally do. I think if you’re thinking of trying out for a sport, go for it. If you think you want to do yearbook, do it. If you want to do it, then do it, because you can get those experiences back. If you’re on the fence about something, usually go towards what you think would be more fun because if you just sit back, you’re going to lose all the experiences through high school and then won’t get to experience them in college. You just have to experience everything you possibly can.