By Ashley Wood/reporter

Looking back, most people can remember their favorite teachers. It could have been the way they taught multiplication, read a story with a lot of gumption or took a genuine interest in their students’ lives.

TCC helps aid students wanting to go into the education field with Associate of Arts degrees in Teaching for all grades, Special Education and also Early Child Development. These programs are offered on NE and South.

Rosa Mendez, NE Campus education coordinator and professor, said she wants to teach her students they have the power to make a significant difference in their students’ lives.

“The community and the children look up to the teachers for guidance and place them on a high pedestal,” she said.

Mendez said that TCC’s teachers want students to do their best and touch the world.

“Plant that one seed,” she said. “It could make all the difference to that one child who needs it.”

Teachers see all this potential coming into the class, and it’s the educator’s job to help students grasp and focus it all, Mendez said.

“In five years, I’m hoping the teacher pay is up and that technology becomes even more interactive with the curriculum,” she said. “Technology is changing the whole dynamic of education.”

Ashley Kayasack, a NE education major, wants to teach second grade. For her, education was an emotional attachment at first, but later she realized it represented everything that was meaningful to her.

“There is nothing more fulfilling than meeting a child and making a difference in being a part of their life,” Kayasack said. “It’s not about the pay. For me, it’s about being the constant in a child’s life.”

Gladys Acosta, a NE education major, said she would like to teach either first grade or special education. Acosta said she likes the younger grades because they are genuine and authentic with their feelings.

“I loved to be surrounded with kids,” she said. “After my kids were born, I said this is what I want to do.”

Acosta wants to be the teacher who gives her students knowledge and accepts them as individuals. She wants to give them respect and help them find their dreams.

“I was observing a special education class, and they need patience and someone to understand that they are special and not by their condition,” she said.

NE education major Crystal Prado is in her last semester at TCC before transferring to Texas Wesleyan for a bilingual education degree.

“I want my students to learn that they have to motivate themselves because education is important for the rest of their lives,” she said. “Education is important to help build a better society.”

Prado wants to help get parents of different cultures involved in their children’s education process and to help children strive to be better.

After getting out of the military, NE education major Anand Siharath decided the education field was his calling. He wants to help his kindergarten-age daughter with any issues that may arise in her schooling so he has a better understanding.

A strong beginning foundation in school is a must, Siharath said. He wants to make a difference his students will remember.

“Education is key for getting into most job fields,” he said.

More information about TCC’s teacher education or early childhood development programs is available online at www.tccd.edu.