Thirteen McDuffie County students were celebrated at Thomson High School with a signing ceremony on Friday, May 3.
Congratulating and recognizing several students’ formal commitment to a career in education, through a partnership with Future Georgia Educators, Superintendent Mychele Rhodes said McDuffie’s teaching pathway began as a means to help increase the number of educators within Georgia.
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“Our idea with adding this early childhood pathway at Thomson High School was to grow our own, and we’re delighted today because this is our largest group that we’ve had on signing day,” she said.
In addition, after completing the early childhood education program, Rhodes said she was thrilled that three McDuffie high school alumni will soon be returning to the county to help teach the next generation of students.
“We’re just so delighted,” she said. “… we want to bring them back to our community. We want our community to continue to thrive and grow, and – in order to do that – education is the profession that builds all other professions.”
By giving students realistic teaching experiences, Rhodes said the teaching pathway not only encourages students to pursue education as a career, but gives them the necessary tools to succeed in college.
“We want to be sure that we’re fulfilling our district’s vision and that’s to prepare students for college, careers and life,” she said. “These upcoming graduates are fully prepared to enter the university system and to excel in the area of education.”
Beginning the ceremony, Thomson High School’s early childhood education teacher Lori Whatley described her fondness of the graduates sitting before her, after teaching most for several years.
“They are stellar at what they do, and they’ve already had a lot of experience,” she said. “They show up everyday for their field experience and they do a wonderful job.”
By accumulating approximately 80 hours of field experience in the county’s teaching pathway, Whatley said she was confident each was ready to dive into the next chapter of their career and education as they attended college.
“We’ve done a lot of hardwork and I am proud of what these students have accomplished,” Whatley said. “It just makes my heart swell to see that I have 13 people who are interested in being a teacher.”
From Whatley’s experience, she and several of her colleagues knew people who graduated from college with a teaching degree only to realize their dislike for the field.
However, by exposing students to different career options in high school, rather than college, Whatley said seniors can step into adulthood with a better grasp of their future.
“They realized that they could not see themselves doing it as a career, and they had just wasted all that time and energy just to go back and get another degree,” she said. “It’s better for them to have these opportunities now, because then they can make better decisions about what they’d like to major in.”
By working two days a week in elementary or middle school classrooms, Whatley said she was incredibly happy to witness many students fall in love with the profession, despite their uncertainty in the beginning.
“That’s really a huge benefit of our program,” she said. “Our students get a rich experience of hands-on learning opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have.”
While signing ceremonial documents for dedicating themselves to teaching, seniors’ families, teachers and friends cheered to celebrate, as Whatley hoped each would leave the school with a passion for educating and encouraging others.
“I hope they remember how much I loved teaching them and how special they all were to me, and that’s really the foundation of being a great teacher,” she said. “It’s not your book knowledge … it’s about the relationships you build with your students, and how you mentor them and love them.”
After shedding tears in the signing ceremony, graduating senior Hayden Neal, who will be attending East Georgia State College, said she would greatly miss high school, because she has developed a great relationship with her CTAE educators.
“I’m a little sad because I forgot that this is my last time being at school, and I won’t see any of these people again,” Neal said.
Inspired by her Future Farmers of America (FFA) teacher Rick DuBose, Neal hopes to one day teach many children the importance of farming.
However, without the help of her teaching “idol” DuBose, Neal said she might never have even considered pursuing a career in teaching agriculture – something she grew to be deeply passionate about over the years.
“He will always be the best inspiration I ever had and will always be in my heart,” she said. “I’ll never forget him. I had all his courses, and everytime I went into his classroom he had the best smile on his face … I want to be like him and make my students feel good too.”
After witnessing Neal’s growth and maturity, DuBose said he was proud to know he has inspired various students to pursue a career in teaching agriculture.
“It’s not so much about teaching the agriculture part of it, but it’s more so about knowing the kind of inspiration they can have on other students in the future,” he said. “… seeing them want to instill inspiration into others is very valuable to me.”
Through his teaching experience, DuBose said he always aims to develop meaningful connections with students that will leave a positive lasting impression on their high school experience.
“Students need to know that you care about them, and then they’ll buy into whatever it is you have to teach them,” he said. “They need to know you really care for the long run – for their entire future.”
As seniors left Thomson High School for the last time, prior to graduation, many family members and teachers exchanged sentiments of time passing by quickly as students edged into adulthood.
“To watch them grow like a flower, grow and blossom into their own career, is really special,” DuBose said.
