Students preparing to be future educators at UMES

PRINCESS ANNE, Md.- High school students from across the Eastern Shore are celebrating the completion of a three-week program to prepare them to be future educators.

Friday, students with the High School Teacher University received student-teacher readiness certificates. Laryn Fletcher, a student in the program, said this was a steppingstone for a career in education.

“I got to learn a lot of things about teaching that I didn’t already know,” Fletcher said. “Teachers have a deeper reason of why they want to be teachers. They don’t want to be teachers just to grade or discipline kids; they actually care about the students, and they want them to grow in some type of way.”

The one-of-a-kind program is hosted by educators at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore each summer. Dr. Richard Warren, a professor with the program, says its goal is to introduce students to the world of teaching.

“Nationally, there’s a teacher shortage, and we see in our smaller, rural school districts that there are a lot of teacher vacancies,” Dr. Warren said. “This is important, and we often say the best recruitment is recruitment that starts early on.”

Aside from learning, Christian Sanders, a student in the program, said it’s also a chance to build long lasting connections.

“Here, it’s all about family,” Sanders said. “it’s one big community here.”

And for Sanders’ mother, Laronya Dobson, she said even through some of the hardships of the program, she always knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel for her son.

“I’m looking to see that he’s an inspiration and an impact on the other children to say, ‘I want through this program; I had a struggle as well. But because of my mentors, my teachers, Dr. Warren and the other educators, helped me make it through this program to be successful and succeed,” Dobson said.