Teaching Pipeline Expands
Dr. Leslie Haas taught her BVU course onsite at Storm Lake Elementary School. Following class, students remained at the school, assisting classroom teachers and putting into practice concepts they covered just minutes earlier.
An educational pipeline from BVU to the community of Storm Lake was put in place this fall with a pair of senior-level classes. The pipeline stretched all of 15 feet, if that.
Connections formed in Reading Strategies and Instruction Methods: Fiction and Literary Field Experience, classes taught by Dr. Leslie Haas, assistant professor of education. Haas convened her instruction at Storm Lake Elementary School. Following the typical 50-minute class session, eight students departed for classrooms within the site and would remain there for two hours, assisting classroom teachers, putting into practice concepts they covered just minutes earlier. (One student went across the street to Storm Lake Middle School.)
“Students learn with me and then practice in a classroom with teachers,” says Haas. “It doesn’t feel as piecemeal as it would were we meeting for class on campus one day and then reporting to an elementary classroom the next.”
“It’s a beautiful pipeline from BVU to the community. It’s a wonderful way to learn, to build relationships, to secure valuable letters of reference, and more.”
Dr. Leslie Haas
Cooperating teachers knew exactly when to expect their BVU education majors. Together, they educated young learners while building bonds.
Barb Lange ’92, Storm Lake Elementary Principal was excited to hear about the proposal, presented last summer by Haas and Dr. Ann Monroe-Baillargeon, dean of the School of Education.
“It’s an awesome idea, and having the BVU class here at Storm Lake Elementary School has been nothing but positive for us,” Lange says. “College students need more practical experience, and this gets and keeps them in our school. We’re always looking for ways to get BVU students on our campus, because we want to hire them when they graduate.”
Once Haas ends the teaching portion of this class, she sends students to classrooms where they’re needed most, relying on recommendations from Lange and Mike Sullivan ’05, assistant principal.
“You learn something in class and then see it applied almost immediately,” says McKinzie Tjaden, a senior elementary education major from Colfax. “It’s been fun seeing the ways different class concepts are implemented in a classroom setting.”
“I’ve really enjoyed coming here for class,” says Aaron Mumm, a senior elementary education major from Denison. “We end up being in an elementary school all morning and get to make connections with students and our teacher.”
Mumm says he smiles each time he enters the first-grade classroom of teacher Katie Mills as most of Mills’ students look up and say, “Hi, Mr. Mumm!”
“It’s a beautiful pipeline from BVU to the community,” says Haas, who plans to offer the class at the elementary school again next fall. “It’s a wonderful way to learn, to build relationships, to secure valuable letters of reference, and more.”
The class leads to, or builds upon, other work opportunities within the Storm Lake Community School District as three-fourths of the students in these classes are employed by the local district; Elementary education major Kathryn Tyykila, a senior from Canby, Minn., for example, stays at the elementary school following Haas’ class and works as a substitute instructional aid three days per week until 2:15 p.m. She also serves the district’s preschool program for an hour each Tuesday and Thursday, all of it adding up to valuable preparation for her student-teaching experience this spring.