By GRAYSON LEE MAXWELL
Rutherford County Schools
Angela Hays is a first-year teacher at Christiana Elementary and Christiana Middle School – but this is not her first year in education.
Hays recently sat down to answer questions about her transition from serving as an education assistant to full-time educator. She earned her license through an educator preparation program at Lipscomb, but she is excited about Rutherford County School’s introduction of a Future Teachers Academy, which is launching soon.
The RCS Future Teachers Academy is an MTSU-affiliated program for education assistants or other classified employees who wish to become teachers. Applications are due March 23, and those accepted to the program will be placed in classrooms as teachers beginning in August 2022.
Question: Tell me about yourself and your background.
Answer: My name is Angela Hays. This is my 4th career — various parts of my life have led me to be doing different things. So, for college I went to Belmont, and I was a broadcasting major with a double minor in journalism and music business. My goal was to be an all-around communications professional.
I worked for the advertising department for a cable company for several years. Post 9/11 recession meant that they didn't have enough income coming in, so they had to let me go. And I had to figure out another way to make some money.
At that point, my twins were two years old, and I needed a job that was a lot more flexible. I wanted the flexibility of having the same schedule as my kids, right?
So, I worked at a school. In the cafeteria I worked as an assistant. I worked as a secretary. Whatever I could get hired on at a school because that way I'm on the same schedule as my kids.
Then, I got a position as an educational assistant at John Coleman Elementary in Smyrna.
In my first week there, I'm working with kindergarteners who do not speak English at all, and I saw how challenging that was — how difficult that was for them. And I just loved working with them, and so it wasn't long before I just loved teaching and I really loved teaching English language learners primarily.
Q: Why teaching?
A: Even as a pampered chef consultant, I was teaching people about cooking, and I liked seeing how it changed their lives.
So, it was a very natural fit for me to then be working with students and teaching them as well, and to be able to see a child who has struggled all year long not being able to count to 100 — and seeing all the rest of their classmates be able to do it. And when they finally make it to 100...
There's just nothing better, nothing better. Because they've been able to accomplish it — because of the work that you put into it. And you’ve made their life better. They feel so much more confident in who they are as human.
Q: How did you achieve the transition from education assistant to teacher?
A: I looked around to several of the area programs to be able to get a teaching license. And I looked at some online programs as well. They really focused on the job embedded program so I would never have to be without a paycheck.
The idea of taking a traditional teaching program where I would have to be a student-teacher for three to four months, and not get paid during that time, was not possible for me. I had to have a paycheck. I had to have insurance.
But in that program. I could go from being an EA to immediately being a teacher in the classroom from, you know, one school year in May I finish up as an EA in August. I had a mentor who worked with me through the whole time I was in that program.
So, I wasn't by myself, just thrown in, but I was in a classroom making teacher pay, having the benefits and learning on the job. One of the reasons that I'm excited about the Future Teachers Academy program is because I think all teachers should be an EA before they teach. I think you need to have a year or so of experience in a classroom in a real environment.
Q: What skills did you gain from your educator preparation program that you think are valuable?
A: When I first started considering making the transition to being a teacher, I started talking to other teachers and told them the two areas that I'm most worried about are classroom management and working with parents. And I knew both of those are crucial and those were skills that I did not have.
To learn how to manage a classroom, to know that it all starts with relationships and building relationships with students and knowing who they are as people — and that helped me.
But I also really make sure I know them as human beings as much as possible and develop those relationships. Students are more likely to work for you if they like you.
So, I learned that in my first class, you know, and there was a lot that I learned in that program as to how to relate to students.
Q: What advice would you give to people who are thinking about applying or are considering the Future Teachers Academy?
A: It’s worth it. The first year was hard and there’s no getting around that, because you’re going to have to learn.
You’re taking a new job. Even as an EA, there’s still so much new to learn that I wasn’t aware of. So, my advice would just be to realize it’s only a passing season in your life.
That’s what I kept telling myself. I can do anything for 18 months. Get through. It’s worth it.