Okawville High School has welcomed a new club into the school. This club is sponsored by Mrs. Rachel Fuhrman and the opportunity was brought up by Mr. Keith Senior.
Mrs. Fuhrman has said this about this new club; “Educators Rising is a national program that offers a standards-based curriculum and clinical experiences to high school students who are interested in pursuing a career in education. Our local chapter at OHS is an extracurricular club that offers ‘rising educators’ opportunities to learn about the education profession to foster interest, explore career options, develop necessary skills and insights, and make informed decisions about pathways to accomplished teaching and/or other careers in the education field. Overall, this club aims to equip students with more knowledge and experiences to help build and strengthen their confidence as they begin their journey into the field of education. Membership is open to all high school students, even those unsure of their career path and those looking at careers outside of the education field.”
Fuhrman also says “One main, ongoing activity planned for the club is to invite guest speakers who work in different positions within the education field to speak with the club. The aim is to be diverse with this so students can learn about the many opportunities that the field of education has to offer. Guest speakers would (hopefully) include: teachers of all grade levels and subjects, special education teachers, aids, tutors, administrators, counselors, therapists, speech pathologists, school nurses, coaches, advisors, curriculum developers, those involved in support services, etc.). Other possible activities include observing classes and shadowing teachers, visiting other high schools, taking field trips to (or speaking with) colleges to learn about their education programs, creating lesson plans for different subjects and grade levels (which would include reviewing and discussing state standards and mandated units of study), opportunities to student-teach in classes at OGS, OJHS, and OHS, listening to education-related podcasts, attending and participating in competitions and conferences that the national program offers, etc.”
All of the knowledge and experiences that this club plans to offer are to help students gain a better understanding of the skills, insight, and information needed to begin their journey into the education field. It is meant to help prepare students so they can transition into their college’s education program with experience and knowledge already “under their belt” and with a clearer understanding of the requirements, responsibilities, and expectations involved with positions in the education field. It also will help build transferrable, lifelong skills that can help people in any career (such as communication, collaboration, flexibility, resiliency, planning and preparation, critical thinking, leadership, etc.), which is a reason why all are encouraged and welcome to join, even if their future career is not anticipated to be in the field of education.
This is a club to help future educators gain experience and start their journey into this field. With this program, she hopes to help high school students have an easy transfer to college. This newly formed club can help kids understand the education industry and “help them learn the responsibilities and expectations needed to go into this field. It can also help students with their communication, flexibility, resilience, planning and preparation, critical thinking, leadership, etc”, Fuhrman would like to say and she welcomes everyone even if they are not interested in the education field.
