Orbitals, electrons, and balancing equations. That's the stuff Tamara Mackey loves.From Vienna, West Virginia, Mackey is in the third semester of the new teacher education program at WVU and is having "a blast!"
"When I took my first high school chemistry class, I knew that I wanted to teach." said Mackey. "Being with the students now just reinforces that feeling."
She had to complete sixty hours of volunteer work with children the same age she wanted to teach before entering her third semester in WVU's new program. She did this work with her former chemistry teacher at Parkersburg High School. "I've been joking with my high school chemistry teacher that he is going to retire when I graduate and I'll take his spot."
Mackey likes the new program because it will give her more time to acclimate to her environment both in the college and the high school. She has been tutoring at MHS for twelve weeks now. Sometimes, when finished with her day's tutoring, she enters the classroom to help out. Goggles and a lab coat are reserved just for her. After such a short stay with the students, she feels comfortable helping them with lab and group projects.
She will also have time to get to know her professors by name. "It's nice to be able to talk to them. If you have a problem in the program you can talk to them as a colleague would instead of simply as a student teacher," she said.
-- Laura Spitznogle
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