With no time to spare and little to lose, teaching interns are preparing for their future. Each year the school is filled with interns learning how to teach by experiencing the real deal from teaching masters.

First up with a bachelor in history is Mr. Joel Taylor. Interning with Mr. Michael Scott, this teacher has also been at Prairie Grove Middle school and Woodland Junior High.

“The transition between schools has been much easier for me because all my teaching mentors allowed me to observe and watch their methods before I jumped in and started teaching,” said Mr. Taylor.

Mr. Taylor comes from the University of Arkansas’s MAT Program and hopes to obtain a social studies teaching job in this area. As teaching social studies is one of the hardest teaching jobs to get, Mr. Taylor is very nervous.

“No one really leaves the job as a social studies teacher, this makes me nervous about being able to get a job in this field,” said Mr. Taylor.

Although he is nervous, Mr. Taylor has a plan. He hopes to get a job by the fall, but if he doesn’t he plans to be a substitute teacher, to volunteer at Prairie Grove’s battle field park and to stay employed at Tim’s Pizza.

Also with the U of A’s MAT Program is Mr. Travis Fink with a bachelor’s in math. Mr. Fink has experienced teaching ninth graders at Huntsville High School, students at Helen Tyson Middle school and Har-Ber High School.

To get into the program Mr. Fink had to take certain teaching classes, make a portfolio and be interviewed by the graduate staff and the College of Education. After completing the interview process, he was accepted into the program and started his internships.

“Each school has been great. The second and third transitions were a little harder because I hadn’t been with the students since the beginning of the year,” said Mr. Fink.

At the beginning of the year Mr. Fink was unprepared to teach a group of kids but after a year long lesson, he can now easily step into a new classroom and take over. Although he has no plans for his future if he is unable to gain a secondary teaching job in math, he knows he will be able to be a sub until a job opens up in Northwest Arkansas.

“I’ve loved everywhere I’ve been, and each place has taught me something new about teaching. I’ve enjoyed getting to know everyone and being at each unique place. I’ve been given a wider view of schools and teachers, and now I am able to be a teacher,” said Mr. Fink.

Unlike these other interns, Mr. Oly Ward will graduate May 14 with a major in German and a minor in French from Arkansas Tech. Mr. Ward spent a semester at Little Rock Central and the other at Har-Ber. Mr. Ward had to live with a friend and depend on the bus for transportation when at Little Rock Central. However, now he lives in a hotel and has a car while in Springdale.

“I didn’t think much of having to move to schools far away for my internship, but I loved the opportunity,” said Mr. Ward.

Mr. Ward plans to get a job in this area, hopefully at Springdale High School, teaching German. He isn’t worried about getting a job because he knows foreign language teaching positions are always opening up.