CEDARVILLE, Ohio — Teaching is no easy task. As the nation celebrates American Education Week, highlighting the accomplishments and needs of public schools, Spectrum News 1 is taking a look at the state of the teaching profession and the need for teachers.
Natalie Hupner’s, 22, getting a head start on her teaching career.
Recently, she and classmate Katelynn Garber spent the night packing up some supplies for at-home STEM activities she designed for kids at Cedar Cliff Elementary. Less than two years out from having her own classroom full of kindergartners, Hupner said, “I’m excited to be with kids.”
Reflecting, Hupner described part of her vision for students that she’ll teach.
“I definitely want my classroom to be like that comforting place that they can like always come to me,” Hupner said.
While the vision is great, the Cedarville University Primary Education major admits she is a little anxious about stepping into the profession.
“Sometimes I feel like that’s a lot of responsibility, and like … that’s nerve-wracking,” Hupner said.
For Katelynn Garber, 20, it’s the challenges that lie ahead.
“There’s gonna be students from every background, and we just have to figure out how to teach them all,” Garber explained.
Still, the future second grade teacher is not focusing on that. Instead, she’s focused on the other moments she has yet to encounter.
“Just like the moment that students finally (conceptualize) and you just see how happy and how they just feel on top of the world in that moment,” Garber explained.
While the two know many have exited the profession, especially over the last year, they’re not letting that turn them away. Instead, they’re hanging onto the memories of the teachers who inspired them.
“Ms. Diana — she’s the one that motivated me, pushed me to do this,” said Hupner. For those already in the profession and still hanging in there, Hupner said, “Don’t forget like why you wanted to be a teacher in the first place.”
