Earlier this year, Sampson County Schools launched a district-wide future teachers club called Sampson EDvantage to help foster growth in students seeking a career in education.
The EDvantage program launched in addition to SCS’s Teaching as a Profession Career and Technical Exploration course and is a piece of the school system’s “Grow-Your-Own-Teacher” initiative. The initiative seeks to help train students interested in a future in teaching receive professional development support and advisement to help better prepare the next generation of teachers. The program is overseen by SCS’s Executive Director for Personnel Services and Federal Programs Dr. Wendy Cabral.
According to Cabral, students in the EDvantage program have already been offered a variety of events at different colleges to help give them a taste of their future field of choice.
“This year our Sampson EDvantage students attended Future Teacher Friday at ECU and the Future Teacher Conference at UNCW,” she explained.
In her role with the Grow-Your-Own-Teacher initiative, Cabral has worked hard to establish CTE Teaching courses in a format that is compeletely online and asynchronous to students so it can be completed in addition to students classes rather than adding in another class to their already busy schedules. In addition to the Teaching as a Profession Course, Midway High School currently offers a Teacher Cadet course that focuses on teacher recruitment and leadership. Cabral stated that the system is also looking into adding a second Teaching as a Profession course for students that will build upon ideas established in the first course and count towards college credits.
“We plan to add Teaching as a Profession II in the future, creating a CTE pathway for students that will include field experience,” said Cabral. “We’ll also have an articulation agreement with Sampson Community College, so students who complete the pathway will receive college credit.”
Sampson Advantage is only the latest step in SCS’s many achievements in raising up future teachers. In September of this year, three SCS students were chosen for NC State University’s Transformational Scholars Program, which provides students pursuing a college degree in an education-related field with a minimum $40,000 scholarship over four years. Alondra Acosta of Midway High School, Daniel Aguilar and Heily Avila Ponce of Hobbton High School, were all chosen to be a part of this program and attend the NC State College of Education, where they will engage in a variety of field experiences, summer learning opportunities, student teaching and more. After their education, the students will come back to Sampson County and teach a new generation of students.
“It makes me proud to see a group of students that want to teach,” said Superintendent of Sampson County Schools Dr. Jamie King about the three scholars. “I think it shows the hard work of our staff — obviously we’re proud of our students — but our educators also worked hard to show students that they have options.”
The Sampson EDvantage program is open to all high school students interested in a future in education. The program is holding its first district-wide meeting on Tuesday starting at 6 p.m. at the Pizza Inn on 1103 Sunset Ave. in Clinton.
“It will be a time to let prospective students meet the Teaching as a Profession instructor Julie Hunt, hear from current students about the course, be inspired by our SCS Teacher of the Year and hear about upcoming events,” said Cabral.