Two WCS high school students are on the path to becoming educators themselves.
Centennial High’s Catherine Dillard and Fairview High’s Vincent Caccese are the first recipients of a new scholarship aimed at encouraging students to pursue a career in education. As part of the Future Educators Scholarship, both students will receive $2,500 each and receive support from the district as they go through college. The scholarship was made possible through a grant from the state.
“We want to expand how we work on growing our own as far as teachers go,” said WCS Coordinator of Special Outreach and Engagement Erin Caceres. “There is a shortage of teachers nationwide, and it’s tough sometimes to find people who are excited about the profession.”
Students from Centennial High and Fairview High who took part in the teaching as a profession course were eligible for the scholarship. Catherine entered the program during her freshman year at Centennial. Through the classroom observations, she found that she felt at home in the Transition I and II classrooms. She will be going to the University of Tennessee Knoxville and majoring in special education.
“I’ve always grown up with teachers in my family, so I’ve seen how much of a difference they make in all of their students’ lives,” said Catherine. “I’ve always made a really good connection with all of my teachers, and I just want to be that rock for a lot of people.”
The program didn’t begin at Fairview Elementary until Vincent was in his sophomore year. Vincent will go to Trevecca Nazarene University and major in theater education.
“Growing up, I had a lot of people really close to me who I wanted to help but never really was able to,” said Vincent. “I’ve just seen how much teachers have helped me. The connections I was able to make with those teachers was almost to the level of my family members, so I just really want to help people and give them a bond like that.”
The three-class teacher program was originally started for students interested in becoming a school counselor, teacher, librarian or speech-language pathologist. The courses include an emphasis on field experience, which ranges from observations to internships. At the end of the program, students will have a portfolio of their skills and be prepared to continue to post-secondary schooling.
“We are being very active and intentional about trying to encourage our graduates to come back and teach in Williamson County,” said Caceres.
