Every semester, students majoring in Education at Hood College in Frederick, MD have the opportunity to be mentored by the Threes and Pre-K teachers at our Georgetown Hill at Hood College Lab School campus. This is a great opportunity for students at Hood College to observe early childhood teaching in practice, and for teachers at Georgetown Hill to showcase their talents and abilities while supporting the students.
This semester, Hood’s Pre-K teacher, Ms. Taylor, was given two students to mentor: Ms. Becca (Junior) and Ms. Kelsey (Senior). Ms. Becca had hopes of becoming a Kindergarten teacher and Ms. Kelsey a 3rd-grade teacher.
Ms. Becca and Ms. Kelsey both formed an immediate bond with the students and staff at Georgetown Hill. After visiting, observing, facilitating, and contributing to lesson plans for a few weeks, they were both ready to hit the ground running to help in any way they could; a much bigger way than anyone at Georgetown Hill could have imagined.
After months had gone by, Ms. Becca chose to stay with Georgetown Hill by starting employment and becoming Ms. Taylor’s new assistant teacher. Her dreams of becoming a Kindergarten teacher were put on pause as she stated, “There is just something so magical about this place-I want to stay here for a while!” She was, undoubtedly, welcomed with open arms by the staff at Georgetown Hill.
Ms. Kelsey went on to receive the Johanna Chait Essex ’53 Prize in Early Childhood Education from Hood College at her commencement- she received a certificate, recognition, and a large cash prize. She generously donated this cash prize back to Georgetown Hill by stating in a hand-written card, “This is the money I received for the Johanna Chat Essex ’53 Prize in ECE. I would love to pass it along to you to put it toward something meaningful in the Lab School. Keep up the incredible work!” The staff soon decided they were going to put the money toward opening a new outdoor classroom.
Ms. Kelsey and Ms. Becca weren’t the only ones impacted throughout this process. Ms. Taylor states, “I can’t begin to articulate the impact both of these ladies have had on myself and my kids. They are truly precious and will make the very best educators one day. I feel incredibly blessed and humbled.”
From all of us at GHES, we wish these two the very best on their way to achieving all their educational goals and dreams.
