{"224641":{"#nid":"224641","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Pre-teaching Internship Lets Student Explore Elementary Education","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EYou may have been on the Tech Tower lawn and heard screams and laughter coming from across the street, only to look up and see it\u2019s the sounds of children at play across the street at neighboring Centennial Place Elementary. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Georgia Tech students looking for experience in the field of K-12 education, this location could hardly be more convenient. Stephanie Greear, a fifth-year international affairs and Spanish major from Woodstock, is spending her summer at Centennial Place as its first pre-teaching intern from Tech. Greear has been at it since May and will continue through the first few weeks of the school\u2019s upcoming academic year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cLife in an elementary school is always busy and hectic,\u201d Greear said. \u201cThere is literally always something that needs to be done, and you\u2019re never bored.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGreear\u2019s internship placement was facilitated by the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) and the Division of Professional Practice (DoPP), which are working together to broaden opportunities for the increasing number of Tech students interested in exploring careers in education. Nearly 300 of last year\u2019s freshman applicant pool expressed an interest in teaching, up from just 20 the year before.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u201cBecause Tech doesn\u2019t have a college of education, students who wanted to become teachers had volunteer opportunities and classes they could take, but no way to truly explore the experience of being a teacher,\u201d said Tech Pre-Teaching Advisor Susan Belmonte, who collaborated with the principal at Centennial Place to create the internship.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEnabled by Centennial Place\u2019s year-round schedule, Greear has been privy to the closeout of one academic year and the summer preparations for the next. She has observed in the classroom, helped conduct reading comprehension testing, and participated in interviewing new teachers, which gave her insight into preparing for her own future job search. She\u2019ll get more classroom time again in August when the internship will culminate with her teaching for a week.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEveryone is really supportive of each other \u2014 kids, teachers, and staff alike,\u201d Greear said. \u201cI already know that leaving in August is going to be very difficult and sad, and I am already trying to work out my schedule for fall so that I can come volunteer at the school in my free time.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBelmonte hopes to grow the internship next year to place two students at Centennial Place, and eventually establish middle and high school internships as well.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETech has collaborated with Centennial Place, a STEAM-themed (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) school, in numerous ways in recent years. Among other activities, the Into the Streets freshman day of service has helped fill backpacks with supplies for students in need, an annual 5K race raises funds for students and teachers, and College of Architecture students have taught introductory architecture classes. Chris Burke, Georgia Tech\u2019s director of community relations, even serves on Centennial Place\u2019s foundation and school council.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe collaboration between Tech and Centennial Place supports Tech\u2019s larger goal of helping K-12 teachers develop and offer a relevant, 21st-century STEM curriculum to prepare students to compete in a global economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHaving students within walking distance who are a little younger than our teaching staff is a wonderful way to have a little mentorship for our students,\u201d said Alison Shelton, Centennial Place\u2019s principal. \u201cSharing what college life is like helps the students see Georgia Tech as their college, and we\u2019ve had several of our students go on to attend Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor the elementary school with the highest homeless population in Atlanta, having Tech students lend their time goes a long way toward helping students and families visualize college in their future. For students interested in pursuing a career in K-12 education, the new Centennial Place internship is a chance to try their hand at a classroom experience before pursuing a master\u2019s or alternate certification program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cStephanie has been phenomenal,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cShe supported us at the end of the year, has worked with with our administrative staff during the summer, and has come up with some great ways to improve our communications, even applying her expertise from leading Humans versus Zombies at Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETech students interested in pursuing teaching can \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:susan.belmonte@cetl.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Econtact Belmonte\u003C\/a\u003E to learn more about the pre-teaching program and available courses and opportunities.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn undergraduate student is working this summer as Centennial Place Elementary\u0027s first pre-teaching intern from Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"An undergraduate student is working this summer as Centennial Place Elementary\u0027s first pre-teaching intern from Tech."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2013-07-25 10:03:26","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:38","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-07-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-07-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"224701":{"id":"224701","type":"image","title":"Stephanie Greear","body":null,"created":"1449243551","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:11","changed":"1475894896","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:16","alt":"Stephanie Greear","file":{"fid":"197391","name":"dsc_0007.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0007_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0007_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3410364,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_0007_0.jpg?itok=4doGF9fI"}},"224691":{"id":"224691","type":"image","title":"Stephanie Greear at Centennial Place Elementary","body":null,"created":"1449243551","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:39:11","changed":"1475894896","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:16","alt":"Stephanie Greear at Centennial Place Elementary","file":{"fid":"197390","name":"dsc_0005_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0005_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dsc_0005_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3153724,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dsc_0005_0_0.jpg?itok=dc-NruKj"}}},"media_ids":["224701","224691"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dopp.gatech.edu\/","title":"Division of Professional Practice"},{"url":"http:\/\/preteaching.gatech.edu\/","title":"Pre-teaching at Georgia Tech"},{"url":"http:\/\/cetl.gatech.edu\/","title":"Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3452","name":"Centennial Place Elementary"},{"id":"13286","name":"Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning"},{"id":"1601","name":"CETL"},{"id":"7835","name":"Division of Professional Practice"},{"id":"2182","name":"dopp"},{"id":"1648","name":"Internships"},{"id":"46351","name":"K-12 education"},{"id":"5059","name":"Pre-Teaching"},{"id":"167487","name":"STEM education"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:susan.belmonte@cetl.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESusan Belmonte\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPre-Teaching Program\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EKristen Bailey\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}