David Crockett High School students get head start on teaching career

Washington County, Tenn. (WJHL) – David Crockett junior Sadie Buchanan is listening and learning while teaching a kindergarten class at Jonesborough Elementary. She’s one of nearly a dozen Crockett students who spend one morning a week as co-teachers as part of the first-year “teaching class.”

“Mainly what I do is I’m working with just kindergarteners [on] reading and spelling,” said Buchanan.

Nine high school students make up Julie Rastall’s “Teaching as a Profession” course at Crockett. She introduced the curriculum to the class with hopes of giving her students a head start on what it takes to be an educator.

“We all see what’s on the surface, but there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes, a lot more that we are dealing with that they need to know,” said David Crockett High School teacher Julie Rastall.

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Education leaders like Crockett Principal Dr. Ashley Davis know how important classes like this are, as fewer and fewer graduates are choosing education as a career.

“In the state of Tennessee and across the nation we need teachers. There is a major gap there, the teacher shortage, and so this program really helps students see if this is what they want to do,” said David Crockett High School Principal Dr. Ashley Davis.

The student teachers spend one hour a week paired with the teachers at Jonesborough Elementary. They not only watch but also read to students, interact with them, and experience what it’s really like to be a teacher.

“I really hope they take out of this a love for this profession. We need teachers [who] love being here. We need teachers that enjoy seeing kids grow,” said Jonesborough Elementary teacher Brittany Gray.

It is the passion and perspective of what it’s really like in front of students.

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