School club educates future teachers

In keeping with the challenge to increase the pool of highly qualified teachers, a class is offered at Osbourn Park High School to recruit high school seniors into the teaching profession.

The program, Teachers for Tomorrow, is a statewide offering that allows high school students to gain firsthand knowledge of what teacher do on a day-to-day basis.

“Participation in the program is a wonderful way to help students determine if teaching will be their career choice,” said instructor Debbie Daigneau.

The availability of teachers in critical areas and hard-to-staff schools continues to be a major challenge in the nation and Virginia. Two million teachers may be needed nationally over the next 10 years, but traditional teacher preparation programs have only 1 million prospective teachers in the pipeline.

In Virginia it is strongly felt that “grow-your-own” programs, such as the one at Osbourn Park, may be one way toward resolving this challenge. As such, Teachers for Tomorrow programs are offered to students interested in a career in education.

The program is designed to attract teacher candidates from high school students to the field of education through exposure to a world-class curriculum and hands-on experiences that focus on teaching.

Thirteen students are enrolled in the one-credit course at Osbourn Park, which is in its fourth year.

Student Drew Clawson, who will enroll in the education program at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, said he found the Teachers for Tomorrow program at Osbourn Park to be a “good program” and that it helped him decide to become a teacher.

“I feel it is important to tap on knowledge I will receive as a teacher that later comes beneficial to other kids,” he said.

The students in the class have observed teachers in the classrooms at Signal Hill Elementary, Parkside Middle School and Osbourn Park.

“A lot of the students have parents who are teachers and have already been exposed to the teaching profession through them … maybe even helping them with assignments,” said Daigneau.

To be enrolled in the program, students must maintain a minimum 2.7 GPA or its equivalent; submit three satisfactory teacher recommendations and submit a brief essay and application.

“The hands-on experience we have received from the program gave us a good exposure and a better idea of what a classroom teacher does on a day-to-day basis,” said Tierney Stark, who plans to attend Christopher Newport University.

The program fosters respect for teachers and the teaching profession and provides high school role models for younger students.

Cady O’Mahony, who plans to enroll at Northern Virginia Community College and then transfer to George Mason University, said she first got interested in possibly becoming a teacher when she worked at a church nursery.

“I heard about the Teachers for Tomorrow class and enrolled. I have really loved it,” she said.

School counselor Lillian Orlich, who has been working in education for 56 years, said the program has opened the eyes of the students to an exciting and rewarding career in “the most wonderful profession in the world.”

Staff writer Bennie Scarton Jr. can be reached at 703-369-6707.