51视频

12/09/2022
By Katharine Webster

In sixth grade, Kaunitha Heng was chosen to prepare and present a lesson to the other students in a middle school English class 鈥� and greatly enjoyed it.听

鈥淚t was really just a presentation, but I remember thinking, 鈥楾hey have to understand what I鈥檓 talking about,鈥� and then I asked them questions,鈥� Heng says. Afterwards, 鈥淢y friends called me 鈥楾eacher Heng.鈥欌��

Now, Heng is in the 鈥淕row Your Own鈥� teacher pathway program at Lowell High School, applying to 51视频 and other colleges as an education major and planning to become a teacher.听

鈥淚 just want to do something I actually like,鈥� Heng says.

As part of the teacher pathway program, Heng and 12 other Lowell High students are taking a 51视频 education class, Introduction to Teaching in Inclusive Classrooms. The dual-enrollment class, which was offered for the first time this fall, is co-taught by UML Ph.D. student Cassie McCallum 鈥�13, 鈥�18 and Lowell High English teacher Kendra Bauer.听

The Grow Your Own partnership, which will soon include Greater Lowell Technical High School, is aimed not only at introducing more high school students to teaching careers, but also at diversifying the teaching workforce in Massachusetts, where more than 40% of students are children of color and about 90% of teachers are white. That disparity is even greater in urban districts like Lowell and Lawrence.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 so important for our students to see themselves in their teachers,鈥� McCallum says. 鈥淲hen they do, their academic achievement goes through the roof.鈥�

The high school students study the same curriculum and have the same field experiences in Lowell public elementary schools as first-year education majors at UML, McCallum says.

They can also take dual-enrollment classes in psychology, sociology, science and college writing through UML and Middlesex Community College during their junior and senior years of high school. Those credits can save them time and money when they start college, says Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Assoc. Dean Stacy Szczesiul.听

And if they complete the pathway and come to 51视频 as education majors, they are prioritized for education scholarships, including the GROW (Grow Our Own) Scholarship, which aims to diversify the teaching workforce, Szczesiul says.

Jill Rothschild 鈥�10, 鈥�20, now associate head of school at Lowell High, has been working closely with Szczesiul 鈥� who was until recently her advisor in the Doctor of Education program 鈥� on revamping the Grow Your Own pathway so it aligns with UML鈥檚 undergraduate education major.听

Students who had taken a previous class in Lowell High鈥檚 education pathway or who had expressed an interest in it, like Heng, were invited to take Introduction to Teaching in Inclusive Classrooms this fall, Rothschild says. There was an enthusiastic response.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see excitement about education,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd student excitement has been phenomenal鈥� at Bailey Elementary School, where the Lowell High students are getting their field experience.

The pathway is still a work in progress, Rothschild says. Now that word is getting out, the high school also hopes to offer a dual-enrollment version of Exploring Teaching and Learning in STEM next year. The course is the first requirement for UML鈥檚 UTeach program, an education minor for students majoring in math, engineering or science.

McCallum and Szczesiul also hope to connect the students of color in the Grow Your Own pathway to mentors in the Diverse Teachers Network, a professional support group for teacher-leaders in the Lowell Public Schools, 鈥渟o that they have an affinity group and they鈥檙e being professionalized early on,鈥� Szczesiul says.听

Szczesiul and McCallum have invited the Lowell High students to events at the School of Education, provided them with UML School of Education polo shirts to wear when they go out on their first field experiences and connected them with student ambassadors 鈥� sophomore and junior education majors.

Some of the ambassadors accompany the Lowell High School students to the Bailey School for their fieldwork. Junior Ryan Descheneaux, like McCallum a graduate of Lowell High School, was the first to volunteer as a peer leader.

鈥淎 lot of the (Lowell High) students had first-day nerves,鈥� Descheneaux says. 鈥淓ven I get a little nervous sometimes, thinking, 鈥楬ow鈥檚 the teacher I鈥檓 going to be with? How are the kids going to react?鈥櫬�

鈥淚 think going from the high school and getting into these classrooms earlier is going to help with these jitters they might feel if they go on to the university or go into teaching.鈥�

Recently, a small group of third-graders at Bailey Elementary School listened with rapt attention as Heng read them a National Geographic book on penguins and polar bears, explaining terms and answering questions.

鈥淚 thought, 鈥極h no, the kids are going to be bored,鈥� but one of the kids said, 鈥楶enguins are going to be extinct,鈥欌�� Heng says.听

鈥淚 loved it. It really did confirm that I enjoy teaching.鈥�