×

Education majors volunteer for program

Davis & Elkins College education majors, from left behind table, Samantha Hornish, Katie Harris Shiflett and Katie Stalnaker lead Third Ward Elementary School students through an interactive station that allowed the youths to look through the eyes of an animal. Students learned that since owls don’t have muscles behind their eyes, they have to move their heads to see what’s next to them. Other lenses included a fly, mole and horse. The traveling program was presented by the Center of Science and Industry located in Columbus, Ohio.

ELKINS — Helping elementary students discover ecology gave Davis & Elkins College education majors a hands-on experience leading into their career paths. The future teachers recently volunteered to assist with a special program that brought a field trip into the children’s classroom.

Third Ward Elementary School was the host site for Center of Science and Industry (COSI) on Wheels “Exploring Ecology” traveling program. A hands-on science center located in Columbus, Ohio, COSI has six traveling outreach programs. Each grade level participated in a 45-minute interactive session featuring 10 stations that allowed students to investigate an ecosystem, examine tree rings and explore animal adaptations.

When Dr. Jennifer Tesar, assistant professor of education at Davis & Elkins, learned the program was in need of volunteers to lead the students through the stations’ activities, she asked if students in her Methods and Materials class could attend the training.

“I thought this would be a great experience for my education students to not only work with the elementary students one-on-one, but for them to see some of the resources available to them as future teachers,” Tesar said, adding that as a youth she visited COSI on school field trips. “COSI is known for its hands-on experiences and, since Columbus is too far of a drive for a field trip, I feel fortunate to have teachers who make this program available to the Third Ward children.”

Volunteering at the stations were Davis & Elkins College education students Kaitlyn Buoni of Sewell, New Jersey, Huiying Dai of Elkins, Travis Cleaver of Petersburg, Amber Evans of Hambleton, Samantha Hornish of Cairo, Matt Lawrence of Parsons, Katie Harris Shiflett of Montrose, Katie Stalnaker of Beverly, Kendal Williams of Nanticoke, Maryland, and Katie Wilson of Timberville, Virginia.

“Everything the children were learning about ecology and habitats are things that I have been studying for on the Science 5-Adult Praxis,” Evans said.

Tesar’s class is one semester away from student teaching in all education fields and is preparing for their certification exams.

The Davis & Elkins College Teacher Education Program prepares competent, caring and qualified teachers for schools in Appalachia and in national and global communities. Students seeking certification in elementary education grades K-6 undertake a major in education, which leads to the awarding of a Bachelor of Arts degree. A student seeking certification in a content specialization (grades 5-9, and/or 9-adult) must declare a major outside of education with a declared minor in education.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $3.92/week.

Subscribe Today