By Michelle Terronez/reporter
Before South Campus released for Spring Break, students assembled in the SSTU Living Room for the Teacher Education Expo.
The mid-day seminar consisted of presenters from both TCC and Texas universities who advised students on everything from course offerings to the benefits of being a teacher.
“Why teach?” Dr. Ernest L. Thomas, South Campus president, asked as he began the seminar.
“Why would I want to go into a profession where I have to take money out of my pocket sometimes so I can buy supplies so people can benefit from it?”
Thomas said teachers do so because nothing is more rewarding than making magic in the classroom and watching that light bulb come on.
Texas has a great need for teachers, Altheria Gaston, South Campus instructor of education, said. By this fall, Texas will need 82,000 teachers.
Along with teaching education courses on South Campus, Gaston advises students interested in pursuing a degree in education.
Students interested in the education field can graduate from TCC with an Associate of Arts in teaching. However, on-campus education courses are offered only on South and NE campuses.
An education degree helps students transfer to a four-year university. Upon completion of the associate degree, students will have gained experience in the classroom, something that is usually offered during the fourth year at universities.
“Come here and expect to get challenged,” Gaston said. “You’re going to get high quality teaching and learning here.”
She and Yolanda Johnson, associate professor of business and science on South Campus, sponsor the Teacher Education Association, which is designed to give students experience outside the classroom.
Johnson said the program offers exposure to what it takes to become a professional educator, tips on interviews, parents and being effective and efficient.
“Have experience as an undergrad: go prepared to your next university,” she said.
Both the degree and the Teacher Education Association give students the chance to find their area of study and focus on that. For instance, students go into classrooms to get a feel of what grade level—K-4, 4-12, or K-12—is more comfortable to them.
“We’re trying to provide the link,” Glenda Nichols, South department chair of behavioral science, said. “[We] provide students with an early view of education as opposed to the past when the exposure was during their senior year of college, finding out they spent all that energy and realized that’s not what they want to be” she said.
Dr. Ann Calahan, department head and professor at Tarleton State University, and Dr. Oswell Person, vice president of Jarvis Christian College, spoke about their universities’ education-based programs and the practical and academic experiences they offer students.
Students interested in attending either college to pursue a degree in education can apply for scholarships.
To learn more about the courses and degrees offered at Jarvis Christian College, School of Education, visit http://www.jarvis.edu/education.htm.
Information regarding Tarleton State University, School of Education can be found at http://www.tarleton.edu/~coe.
For more information about a degree in education or the Teacher Education Association, contact Gaston at altheria.gaston@tccd.edu or 817-515-4615. Johnson at yolanda.johnson@tccd.edu or 817-515-4617.
