黑料大湿

Though she鈥檚 been spending a lot of time in the classroom lately, Maddie had never considered becoming a teacher before college. It wasn鈥檛 until she spent a summer in Washington, D.C. as an educational tour guide for middle school students that she started to suspect she might have a calling.  

 鈥淭his whole new exciting version of myself just suddenly came out when I was with students,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淚 realized I needed to figure out a way to make this my job. I was like, 鈥極h, duh, I should be a teacher.鈥欌�� 

Maddie quickly changed her major and hasn鈥檛 looked back. This semester, she鈥檚 a student teacher at Beadle Middle School in Omaha and putting to practice the work she鈥檚 done to pursue her passion.  

鈥淚t鈥檚 been so cool to see the ideas I鈥檝e been studying be used in real-life classrooms,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e been able to directly help students through a lot of the same concepts we鈥檝e been learning.鈥� 

Beyond applying the knowledge she鈥檚 gained, Maddie鈥檚 relishing the chance to build relationships with students.  

鈥淚t's been so fun seeing the students get more comfortable with me as I've been in the classroom. Since they鈥檝e gotten to know me and we鈥檝e built that trust together, I鈥檓 able to be more effective as their teacher.鈥�  

She鈥檚 seen those connections inspire change in her students, too.  

鈥淚鈥檝e noticed that more students will come chat with me one-on-one about their lives, which then translates to them participating more in class. There are a lot of levels to what fostering these relationships can do.鈥�  

Maddie鈥檚 also finding plenty to learn from the experienced teachers around her.  

鈥淔rom my first day at Beadle, I鈥檝e felt so welcomed by the staff. They鈥檝e been so supportive of me and encourage me to ask questions, so I鈥檝e just experienced this constant stream of learning.鈥� 

Nearly one in four new teachers in 黑料大湿 are Husker grads 鈥� after earning her degree, Maddie hopes to become one of them.  

鈥淚'm not from 黑料大湿, but I鈥檝e loved it from the second I moved. I'm definitely looking to stay and teach here.鈥� 

Maddie Devericks is a senior secondary education major from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.