The importance of Extended Learning Opportunities and Career-Technical Education
Learning is not limited to the standard curriculum taught within four walls. In fact, it has been scientifically proven that when a student feels they have control over their education and they find value in what they’re being taught, their achievement skyrockets. (You can read more about this in my blog, where I share essays, stories, and experiences regarding education policy and reform!)
Below you will get a glimpse into the start of my teaching journey and the programs and people that inspired me to step into the role of being an educator.
Education and Behavioral Science
at Concord Regional Technical Center
The first experience I had with a CTE (career/technical education) program or an ELO (extended learning opportunity) program was when I was a student at one myself. In 2018, my sophomore year of high school, I was told about a program called Education and Behavioral Science, or EBS for short. It was a program at the local CTE school, Concord Regional Technical Center. I heard I could apply my sophomore year and attend the program my junior and senior year of high school.
By attending this program, I could take college-level classes for a very small fee (way less than college tuition, I can say that for sure!) and get hands-on teaching and fieldwork experience before I even graduated high school. By completing this program, I would not only gain a hefty amount of fieldwork hours, I would also be a whole year ahead when I started college. And that was not an opportunity I could pass up on.
It is because of ELO and CTE programs like Education and Behavioral Science at CRTC that I was able to find my footing and choose a path that felt right for me post-high school. I did not feel rushed or persuaded by anyone or anything. I found life changing opportunities and experiences that I otherwise would not have even known about. This program led me on the path to City Year, helped me gain a teaching fellowship position in college, and has made me realize what my true passion is.
I stand by the fact that when we get students outside of the four walls of their standard classroom and into a mechanics shops or a hair salon or a fire station or even in front of a different classroom as a teacher, we can guide students to glorious achievements and personal successes. By giving students more opportunity for growth and knowledge in a non-traditional setting, we are creating lifelong learners and leaders.
What it taught me and
where it brought me
Sure enough I was accepted into the EBS program at CRTC and within the first few weeks I was already getting hands-on experience teaching, creating lesson plans, and learning about local internships and programs I could volunteer and be part of outside of school. I worked with students as young as 4 and as old as 17, from math classes to music class, and within three different schools—I logged as much student teaching hours as I could. When I wasn’t student teaching I was learning how to lesson plan, the fundamentals of classroom management, foundations of education, special education, IEPS, 504s, education policy, family and culture, children with exceptionalities, and interventions. I was learning everything I could about what I was, in that moment, the most passionate about: teaching!
EBS also introduced me to a few very important local organizations and programs I would later participate in. I was introduced to Know and Tell, where I was invited to be a founding ambassador of their high school and teen program, Know and Tell Peer to Peer. This organization aims to educate families (or in peer to peer, teens) about knowing and telling the signs of child abuse and neglect. We even wrote a proclamation to the governor of the state asking for April 5-9th to be known as Know and Tell week, where we worked to raise awareness and educate others on knowing and reporting child abuse and neglect.
Additionally, I was introduced to a national organization called Educators Rising, and organization that offers professional development and learning opportunities to aspiring educators in local CTE programs and at the collegiate level. Through this program I was able to visit local colleges, receive professional training from local educators, listen to experienced guest speakers, and particpate in state and national competitions geared towards educators. My junior year I illustrated a children’s lit pre-k story about the Australian wildfires, although could no compete due to the Covid pandemic. The following year I competed in the same competition, writing and illustrating an original children’s lit pre-k story, and qualified for nationals! This same year, I was selected to serve on the student officer board for New Hampshire’s Educators Rising program. I helped organize professional development days and competitions for the organization.
