4/23/2019 Graduate Spotlight: Lauren Walker
Ready, Set, Teach is responsible for giving me the foundation on how to run my classroom, how essential lesson plans are, and how to effectively teach a lesson and check for complete understanding in my students. Even teaching toddlers, I was able to adapt the things I learned from Ready, Set, Teach to mesh with my toddler environment while I worked on gaining my formal college education. A couple of months into my junior year, I still loved my new position and decided this is where I wanted to be. I decided to change my major at TWU to work towards a degree in early childhood education. My junior and senior year in college passed. I remained a lead teacher and still loved my job, my students, and my co-workers. In December of 2014 I graduated Texas Woman’s University Magna Cum Laude with a degree in child development. In September of 2015, I was promoted to assistant director where I worked to understand the roles of administration when operating a preschool and school age program. In July of 2018 I was promoted once more to director and I currently oversee my own preschool and school age program with the same company I began with. I work every weekday as an administrator managing twenty-seven teachers and over 180 children. I ensure our school is following all licensing standards as well as going above and beyond to care to care and educate children from six weeks of age to thirteen years of age. The most crucial brain development happens before children even enter kindergarten and I make sure they have the best start to their education journey! What is the craziest part about where I have landed with my career? I am STILL working at my first job! I am about to start my tenth year with my school. During my senior year of high school at Northwest, I was involved in the Ready, Set, Teach program. This program not only opened doors for me as I entered my career but it also gave me an inside view into the career I was considering. Ready, Set, Teach was a program that allowed high school students the opportunity to work alongside an elementary teacher for a year. Through Ready, Set, Teach I was able to see the real workings of an elementary classroom and all that goes into second grade education. I was able to create my own lesson plan with the help of the teacher I was working under and implement my lessons to the students I was working with. In Mrs. Hamby’s high school class, we learned all about standards in the classroom and how to become a successful teacher. One of the most amazing outcomes, on top of the base knowledge gained from Ready, Set, Teach, were the relationships I formed. The moment I was given my internship assignments, I knew the perfect teacher to intern with; the teacher I worked with during my Ready, Set, Teach year! I contacted the elementary teacher I completed my Ready, Set, Teach program with and did three internships with her while attending college. Being able to go back to the teacher I had already formed a relationship not only made my internship more enjoyable and comfortable, it also provided me with even more growth as a future teacher since we understood where I needed to advance and where my weaknesses were. To this day, Ready, Set, Teach is what started my drive to work with children. Ready, Set, Teach showed me how valuable this career is and how much work goes into education. I learned how to read and implement standards in the classroom and effectively manage and create rules in a classroom; something I still do daily. I learned how to adapt my teaching style to that of my students and so much more. There is so much Ready, Set, Teach taught me that deserves credit for my success. I may not have ended up a teacher in an elementary school, but I was and am a teacher in a whole different world. There is so much more that goes into preschool education and I am so thrilled to be apart of that. I take pride in what I do and am so excited to see where my new position takes me. I will forever be grateful for the baseline Ready, Set, Teach provided me, the relationships I made, and the support Mrs. Hamby did and still does show me. Want to read about more CTE graduates? Click here!
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