This story first appeared in the Chronicle-Independent on January 23, 2009

Contributed by Keri Todd, Chronicle-Independent (Camden, S.C.) staff reporter

Kershaw, S.C.—North Central High School graduated its first class of Teacher Cadets earlier this month. And the ceremony came as a surprise to most of the students graduating.

Heather Keith, the instructor of the class, is a former Teacher Cadet and recipient of the Teaching Fellows scholarship, both programs offered through the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention & Advancement (CERRA) to keep South Carolina teachers in the state.

“I loved being a Teacher Cadet when I was in school, and I hope I was able to give my students the same experience,” Keith said.

The Teacher Cadet Program is for high school students who are considering going into the field of education. The course offers instruction on planning and creating lesson plans; students then have a three-week student teaching opportunity toward the end of the semester.

After watching a slide show of pictures from last semester, the students “passed the torch” in a circle by lighting each other¹s candle and telling one thing they really liked about the class.

“After taking this class, I have a great appreciation for what teachers do,” Megan Baytes told her classmates.

Courtney Hamm agreed that teachers have a lot of weight on their shoulders, but she liked the experience. “I absolutely loved my student teaching,” she said. “After this, I know I want to teach middle school.”

However, the student teaching aspect of the class was not the only part the students enjoyed. Many projects were completed before going on the field experience.

Each student had a pot with notes on which everyone else wrote one thing positive about each other and placed them in their pots.

“There is a lot of self evaluation in this class,” Keith said. “You need to know yourself before you can really teach others.”

Other projects included creating a children’s book that promoted positive self esteem. The graduation hats the students made themselves fit perfectly into the theme of positive self esteem. Each student¹s tassel was made up of slips of paper containing nice thoughts about him or her written by other classmates.

“I’m glad I took this class because it has taught me to be open minded in other classes,” Nathaniel Jones said.

Other students learned that wild students are not necessarily bad.

“I learned there is a true difference between rowdy and bad children,” Ember Estridge said. “I had a rowdy group, but they weren¹t bad kids. I also learned that standing on your feet for hours will kill them.”

Rebecca Langley said she learned that a teacher’s job can be unpredictable. “I definitely learned to expect the unexpected,” she said. “If you count your class and have the exact number of copies, something will go wrong and you¹ll need more.”

 Keith, while sad to see the semester end, said she was glad the students had learned so much about her own job. “The passion you gained in the class, I want you to spread it,” she told them. “I wouldn¹t be here today if it wasn’t for the Teacher Cadet Program and I can¹t wait to see ya’ll in the classroom one day.”

North Central principal Worth Thomasson joined the students for the graduation ceremony.

“We thought this program would take time to build,” he said. “But Ms. Keith has already taken it there. You¹ve set the bar high for the rest of the students to come through this program.”

 (Contact Keri Todd at 432-6157 or education@ci-camden.com)

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About the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, & Advancement:
CERRA, an independent state agency located on the campus of Winthrop University, is the oldest and most established teacher recruitment program in the country. The purpose of CERRA is to provide leadership in identifying, attracting, placing and retaining well-qualified individuals for the teaching profession in South Carolina. CERRA is a national model and its programs have been adopted at school, district and state levels in more than 30 states in the United States.