Second graders at Pleasantdale Elementary sit with legs crossed and listen intently as high school junior Renee Letourneau reads aloud from a children’s alphabet book about the nation’s capital.
“So far they always get so excited when I walk in the room and they’ve drawn me pictures. It’s really nice so far,” Letourneau said.
As a participant in the Lyons Township HIgh School teacher internship program, Letourneau spends nearly four hours each week in the second grade classroom.
Each visit is an important step toward her goal of becoming an educator as an adult.
“When I was given the opportunity for this, I immediately jumped on it,” Letourneau said. “I know the expectations of me being a teacher and what responsibilities I would have going into the classroom, so being here is definitely very important.”
It’s also an opportunity for Chicago area high schools to create a pipeline of future educators to help solve the teacher shortage.
Dawn Saukstelis, who runs the Lyons Township program, said student teachers can learn classroom management styles while observing and working with teachers at partner elementary and middle schools.
“Some of them get to the point where they’re leading whole group lessons,” Saukstelis said. “We’re starting them early. We’re not waiting until you go through four years of college to do your student teaching.”
A district spokesperson said the teaching internship at Lyons Township High School has been around for approximately thirty years.
Pleasantdale Middle School math teacher Maggie McCarter participated in the Lyons Township student teaching program while she was in high school.
“It just kind of really inspired me to go into math education and just seeing students light up when you work with them is one of those things that made me want to continue,” McCarter said.
Student teachers can also earn college credit during the internship program.
“If more parents knew what we are doing and really understood what we’re doing with these kids, I think more people would be wanting to check this out and see where they could go with this field. We have so many wonderful offerings,” Saukstelis said.
Several other school districts across west Cook County offer similar programs. They include Leyden District 212, Oak Park and River Forest High School, JS Morton High School, and Ridgewood High School.
"We can either complain about the shortage of teachers or we can be part of the solution,” said Leyden superintendent Dr. Nick Polyak. “It is critical that we take an active role in encouraging, developing, and supporting the next generation of teachers.”
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