BROOKINGS It takes a village to raise a child. This past Wednesday, community members from throughout Brookings put those words to the test, tackling the roles of teaching children at Camelot Intermediate School during the annual Educator for a Day event.
I believe this is the 11th year that we have had this, Amie Engebretson, Camelot fourth grade teacher, said. Its a pretty cool thing for the kids. They get to learn many different things, and you know it also enhances that connection between the community and our schools.
Throughout the day, temporary teachers from all walks of life worked alongside the schools more traditional teaching staff, sharing unique perspectives on a variety of vocations. A total of 60 different 45-minute sessions took place throughout the day, introducing kids to careers in accounting, microbiology, retail business and more.
Each classroom has three different sessions, and we just invite people from the community, we invite parents, anybody that we know that might want to come in and spend 45 minutes of their time sharing their passion or expertise, Engebretson said. We have presenters that come in from SDSU and might teach about dairy, weve had people who have brought in animals before, people that come in and talked about their field that theyre working in like the police department or the fire department. We have a presenter coming from the hospital thats doing a hand hygiene activity with the kids.
She said students are often inspired by the guest instructors and ask how they can get similar jobs themselves someday.
Yes, theyre like, that sounds so fun, Engebretson said. When the day comes, its just exciting to see everybody come in, and its exciting to see how excited the kids are.
The Educator for a Day program began in Massachusetts before spreading nationwide.
This actually is a part of the National Education Associations American Education Week, and they have an Educator for a Day event. Usually its on a Thursday, but because it works better with our schedule on Wednesdays, we usually host it on a Wednesday for our kids, Engebretson said. It started in a school where they had people come in and take on the role of everyone in the school so not just the classroom teachers, but they also were in the janitors roles and the kitchen roles But we just have them in the classrooms.
She said even doing just that requires a lot of coordination and behind the scenes work, but its worth it for the kids.
So it takes a lot of scheduling. We have 60 sessions throughout the day, Engebretson said. But when it all comes together and everybody shows up its just so exciting.
That was a sentiment shared by the administration at Camelot as well.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone involved for their contributions, Camrin Vaux, principal at Camelot, said. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to bring together such an incredible team The success of our program is a testament to the dedication and passion of the Camelot staff and the many guest teachers who shared their passions and expertise with us. Their hard work and commitment to fostering a positive learning environment make this the unique annual event that it has become.
Contact Jay Roe at [email protected].
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