Emporia State University has one of the best teacher-education programs around, and the students know it.
Larissa Book grew up in Emporia. When she decided she wanted to be a teacher, she didn’t even consider another school. Now she’s preparing to graduate from ESU with a degree in elementary education.
“It’s the best,” Book said of the program. “They tell us it’s the best and I believe it. I feel like I’ve gotten a really good education here.”
As part of the elementary education major, a student must work for a year as a Professional Development School intern in an Emporia elementary classroom. Book said this is where she’s learned some of her most important lessons. She said she owes that to her mentor teachers.
“I honestly feel like I had two of the best mentor teachers,” Book said. “I think your mentor teachers make a big difference, especially when they believe in you like mine have.”
Book is spending her last semester in Korie Ranger’s Kindergarten class at Village Elementary. Last spring, she was in Diana Hirt’s first-grade class at Village.
“When I was little I knew I wanted to become a teacher,” Book said. “I used to play ‘school’ when I was little. I would use old notebooks and pretend to be a teacher.”
Next year, she won’t be pretending. Book said she hopes to stay in Emporia or the surrounding area and she’d love to have her own kindergarten class, although she said she would also enjoy teaching first grade. While she’s nervous at the prospect of handling a classroom alone, she said she feels ESU has prepared her. She’s ready.
“I’ve learned that it’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun,” she said. “I’ve had two really great groups of kids and two great mentor teachers. I’m a little nervous, but I’m excited.”
Like most teachers, Book said, she’s excited to get her own classroom to decorate. More than that, she’s excited to have the chance to make a difference in a child’s life, which is why she chose the profession in the first place.
“To help educate them, help them grow academically and personally and into the best person they can be,” Book said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to most.”
Brandon Meuten is getting ready, too, but he said he’s got a little way to go. Meuten, a student teacher in Troy Chapman’s fourth-grade class at Riverside Elementary School will graduate in May. He taught his first complete lesson on Wednesday.
“The kids just love him,” Chapman said of Meuten. “They love having student teachers. When he’s not here, they’re asking for him.”
Chapman is the only male mentor teacher in the program and Meuten is one of only two male interns. For Chapman, the choice to enter the PDS program was an easy one. He remembered how important teachers were and knew he could help others starting out in the profession.
“When I was a student teacher, I really enjoyed my time with my mentor teachers,” Chapman said. “I want to help them develop in the classroom and get that experience they need to be great teachers.”
Chapman said elementary education is not a field men usually choose, but for him and Meuten it’s a great fit.
“I just love working with little kids, they’re so full of energy,” Meuten said. “I used to work at the day-care center on campus and they’re just fun. I love it.”
Meuten’s enthusiasm for working with children and his family’s background are what first got him interested in teaching. His mother, grandmother and sister are all fourth-grade teachers.
“I guess it’s in my blood,” he said.
And although he came to Emporia by chance — he received a yell leader scholarship — he said he’s proud to be in the ESU education program.
“I think it’s definitely bragging rights to say you graduated from Emporia State,” he said. “It’s one of the best in the nation.”
Meuten said he enjoys several aspects of the program that aren’t standard practice at most universities and colleges. One of those is the PDS program. Unlike most universities, the students have the chance to be working in a classroom for an entire year, starting with the first day of school.
“With the PDS program, they get the students in the classroom at the beginning of the year,” Chapman said. “They get to see just how that first day begins.”
Meuten said he thinks the experiences he’s had already have helped him be better prepared for when he’s teaching a class of his own. Next semeste,r he will be headed to Village Elementary school to teach a first-grade class.
“You’re not just thrown out there not knowing what to expect,” Meuten said. “ESU has prepared me. I’m ready to be out there being a teacher. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do.”