All it took was a quick note to Elmore County High School students. Now there are a record number of students serving as aides in the classrooms of Eclectic Elementary School.
In previous years between four and five high school students made the short journey to aid in kindergarten classrooms.
“I sent out a Remind message that said, ‘Hey, if you're interested in aiding at the elementary school, let me know,’” ECHS instructional coach Julie Powell said. “The response was crazy, more than I ever thought.”
More than 20 ECHS students are part of the program, but being an aide at the elementary school is quite different than at the high school.
“It's not a free period, like when they aide at the high school,” Powell said. “They work closely with a teacher at the elementary school. This time almost all of them are in kindergarten classes.”
Powell said many students at ECHS are interested in teaching careers. Some are part of Future Teachers of Alabama. It gives students an opportunity to figure out if teaching is for them, and many aides from the past have come from this organization.
“In the past they wanted to go and assist a favorite elementary teacher,” Powell said.
With the amount of interest, Powell wanted to see if the program could do something more substantial. This year, a total of 14 students are helping in the kindergarten classrooms. The numbers work well on the block schedule as it means a high school student is in a kindergarten class daily.
“It really allows the high school students a chance to see what the classroom is like,” Powell said. “They get to experience almost all aspects of teaching this way. It also encourages the elementary students to do well in school and builds relationships between everyone.”
The elementary school aide program has been there for several years.
“This is the first time we've had a more structured program,” Powell said.
She knew some of the students would be interested but some surprised her.
Powell had no idea junior Hayden Griffith was interested. Griffith didn’t know about the program either until Powell’s message seeking aides. Griffith had already been working with young children in the nursery at church. She was beginning to wonder about a career in teaching.
“I sort of realized I want to be a teacher,” Griffith said. “I figured going to aid at the elementary school would give me a good chance to just see what things are like as a teacher and just try to put myself in that setting to figure it out.”
Griffith likes observing the teachers whether they are in front of the class or preparing lessons for their students.
“It just gives me sort of an inside look to what it's gonna be like to be teachers,” she said.
It’s still early but Griffith sees herself in early education, teaching at an elementary school someday.
“This has actually probably solidified it a little more,” Griffith said. “It is making me realize I really do want to be a teacher.”
